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Re:Confessions of an Ex-Prosecutor (2016) by fastball on Tuesday July 24, 2018 @06:03PM (#17605331)
A likelihood that is 100% informed by a choice you make.
Re:Confessions of an Ex-Prosecutor (2016) by dragonwriter on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @11:59AM (#17610247)
> A likelihood that is 100% informed by a choice you make.

No, it's not. The status quo practice of plea deals not only encourages false guilty pleas, it also encourages false testimony that confirms prosecution narratives against other people who do not plea guilty, because the extent and effect of cooperation with prosecution is often a factor in getting a plea deal and the sentence received in it.

(Now, it probably does more to encourage true guilty pleas and true incriminating testimony, and so in net probably makes justice more accurate than would otherwise be the case; but it toys the balance in favor of the prosecution for both the innocent and the guilty to do that, which can be seen as violating the principle that protecting against wrongful convictions is off greater priority than assuring the guilty are convicted.)

Re:Confessions of an Ex-Prosecutor (2016) by mikeash on Tuesday July 24, 2018 @07:00PM (#17605606)
What’s your point?
Re:Confessions of an Ex-Prosecutor (2016) by fastball on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @11:49AM (#17610159)
100% of innocent people can choose not to take a plea deal. The fact that some innocent people might take plea deals anyway is a way of managing your downside. That seems reasonable.
Re:Confessions of an Ex-Prosecutor (2016) by dragonwriter on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @12:02PM (#17610262)
> 100% of innocent people can choose not to take a plea deal

But innocent party A can't choose not to have a third-party B take a plea deal in which testimony that reinforces the prosecution of A is rewarded with a lighter sentence for B than a guilty plea without such testimony would get.

Re:Confessions of an Ex-Prosecutor (2016) by fastball on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @07:06PM (#17613754)
So you're saying that plea deals encourage people to lie under oath? That seems like an entirely different problem from innocent people pleading guilty.
Re:Confessions of an Ex-Prosecutor (2016) by mikeash on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @08:30PM (#17614193)
You think it’s reasonable to threaten innocent people with long prison terms to convince them to plead guilty to a crime they didn’t commit?