07-06-2004, 08:52 PM
This happens every single fucking day!
The system is totally flawed, and the section of it that gets the most bad press is actually the smallest problem. Police get the bad wrap 99% of the time, but these jerk offs dont get caught without us.
The problem starts with prosecutors. They are constantly manuevering to climb up the ladder. They want that cushy State Superior court or Municipal Judge promotion, and get there they need to be appointed or elected. When you see these schmucks touting their 98% conviction record and what not, that includes plea bargains. Less than 5% of the time I charge someone with a crime, they actually get convicted of that crime. 95% of these cases get downgraded, to ensure another mark in prosecutor's win column.
If the case isn't high profile, or contested by the defendant they cut deals for easy wins. This does in a sense save the taxpayer money, but with a recidivism rate of over 2/3 the defendant will only be back in court again and again. I'd argue that the downgrade method saves no money to taxpayers.
The entire corrections system in the US needs to be rebuilt. With a 2/3 rate of convicts coming back to jail, they really need to educate these people and teach them how to function in a world of normal people. In jail they simply learn to function in quite possibly the most alien environment to mankind.
When I want a lock-up, I have a list of about 75 people in my town that I can find and be guaranteed an arrest. Be it drugs, warrants, receiving stolen property, whatever. They simply don't know how to abide by the law.
The system is really fucked up, and it's not the Police that are the problem when it comes to scumbags constantly back out on the street.
The system is totally flawed, and the section of it that gets the most bad press is actually the smallest problem. Police get the bad wrap 99% of the time, but these jerk offs dont get caught without us.
The problem starts with prosecutors. They are constantly manuevering to climb up the ladder. They want that cushy State Superior court or Municipal Judge promotion, and get there they need to be appointed or elected. When you see these schmucks touting their 98% conviction record and what not, that includes plea bargains. Less than 5% of the time I charge someone with a crime, they actually get convicted of that crime. 95% of these cases get downgraded, to ensure another mark in prosecutor's win column.
If the case isn't high profile, or contested by the defendant they cut deals for easy wins. This does in a sense save the taxpayer money, but with a recidivism rate of over 2/3 the defendant will only be back in court again and again. I'd argue that the downgrade method saves no money to taxpayers.
The entire corrections system in the US needs to be rebuilt. With a 2/3 rate of convicts coming back to jail, they really need to educate these people and teach them how to function in a world of normal people. In jail they simply learn to function in quite possibly the most alien environment to mankind.
When I want a lock-up, I have a list of about 75 people in my town that I can find and be guaranteed an arrest. Be it drugs, warrants, receiving stolen property, whatever. They simply don't know how to abide by the law.
The system is really fucked up, and it's not the Police that are the problem when it comes to scumbags constantly back out on the street.