ms@dvamc.UUCP (10/06/83)
In response to Scott Preece: I don't think I missed a basic point. That's right, plea bargaining happens before sentencing, so what good is a punishment if it is in fact never given out? Driving under the influence is a good example. People can be way over the usual .10% (in most states) and maybe even have caused an accident, but with a good lawyer get a sentence plea bargained. Here in N. Carolina the laws just got much stricter (last weekend), there is no room for bargaining, boy the roads sure were less crowded those weekend nights. I'm sure going to think much more about driving after even a few drinks, because I know that NO lawyer will be able to plea bargain for me. My point was, if a punishment for a crime is never given or always plea bargained, what good is it? How could it ever be a deterrent? How can the death penalty ever be considered a deterrent if it is almost NEVER carried out?
preece@uicsl.UUCP (10/08/83)
#R:dvamc:-109500:uicsl:7500030:000:1375 uicsl!preece Oct 7 09:58:00 1983 I don't think I missed a basic point. That's right, plea bargaining happens before sentencing, so what good is a punishment if it is in fact never given out? ---------- In response to dvamc!ms: I didn't mean to object to your complaint about plea bargaining per se, just to your muddled claim that plea bargaining somehow keeps people under death sentences from being executed. Plea bargaining is indefensible, except that it's the only way our courts stay afloat. The problems I see with plea bargaining are that it induces people who really are innocent to plead guilty rather than risk conviction of a more serious offence, it keeps serious offenders from serving their ordained penalty, and it creates the perception that the justice system is an exercise in game theory. Unfortunately, the judicial system simply couldn't cope with the case load if it couldn't get people to short circuit their rights to a trial. The death penalty is a separate matter, of course. I don't think there should be one. There is no good evidence that it is an effective deterrent, It is often mis-applied (in this county the state's attorney's position is that he will seek the death penalty whenever it applies; no consideration of the merits of the case); it has the potential for irreversible error; it reflects poorly on our humanity. scott preece pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece