Re:Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom?
by Ididntdothis on Monday February 17, 2020 @01:57PM
(#22349690)
“should confess now so they would go lightly on me.”
That’s how they get a lot of people to confess things they didn’t do. If you are poor and can’t afford a lawyer you will likely accept a wrong plea for a few years versus the threat of twenty years or more in prison. It’s a pretty bad system.
Re:Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom?
by Mirioron on Monday February 17, 2020 @02:42PM
(#22350072)
How come this type of thing isn't highly discouraged? As in, law enforcement or the justice system pressuring people into this should be a taboo with serious punishments. We have laws around entrapment, so how come this is okay?
Re:Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom?
by tyingq on Monday February 17, 2020 @09:04PM
(#22352804)
Cops are also allowed to lie in the US. Like "we have your fingerprints and DNA", even if it's not remotely true.
Re:Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom?
by tyingq on Monday February 17, 2020 @03:07PM
(#22350274)
News programs perpetuate the idea that lie detectors work. Dateline, for example, will imply that refusing to take one is suspicious.
Re:Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom?
by P_I_Staker on Tuesday February 18, 2020 @07:10PM
(#22361820)
Truth doesn't matter. If you "get the charges through", you're successful, with little to no penalty for failure, as a LEO or prosecutor. Innocence and guilt are irrelevant. Justice, fair punishment, and rehabilitation are also not relevant. Success is measured by man-years in prison (or arrests for law enforcement). Usually there's room to just blame someone else if you do face scrutiny. Honestly, I think this is a result of greater cultural issue in the US (maybe other countries too, I just can't speak for the culture).
Re:Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom?
by gambiting on Monday February 17, 2020 @03:09PM
(#22350291)
They get rewarded for successful convictions. And they always have the same defense - if those people aren't guilty, why are they confessing? Which is obviously stupid, if your choice is to serve 2 years now or risk getting 20 if the jury doesn't like you, then unfortunately the smart choice is to lie and take the 2 years. Jury system is also absolute nonsense and should be abolished.
Re:Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom?
by Ididntdothis on Monday February 17, 2020 @03:24PM
(#22350404)
The jury system is fine. Excessive use of plea bargains is the problem.
Re:Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom?
by watwut on Monday February 17, 2020 @03:54PM
(#22350650)
Jury system is very expensive. Including for defendant who is going to be bankrupt having to pay for defense.
Re:Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom?
by kelnos on Monday February 17, 2020 @05:01PM
(#22351252)
The jury system has nothing to do with the costs defendants have to bear.
Re:Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom?
by Ididntdothis on Monday February 17, 2020 @03:04PM
(#22350257)
Because if everything went to trial the system would break down. I have read that 90% never go to trial instead there is some kind of plea bargain. If that practice got abolished the court system would need to grow a lot. It’s cheaper to throw innocent people into jail.
I realized that the police were not what children's shows illustrated them as when I was given a polygraph for a crime I did not commit.
And then brought in BY MYSELF with 0 indication I could have either a guardian or lawyer, and told that I failed the polygraph and that I should confess now so they would go lightly on me.
I have never been so terrified of anything in my life. Looking back, and after spending the rest of my high school career researching the "science" behind polygraph, that's exactly what the purpose of the polygraph was. Your "results" aren't important. Your answers are important. If you deviate, even when the police explicitly tell you to lie to set a baseline (as they did for me; I refused and said that I would lie about something else not related to the actual crime), they've got you for a crime you didn't commit.
Just garbage people controlling a garbage system intended to enact garbage things for garbage reasons.