Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Crash the Criminal Justice System

Michelle Alexander, in an op-ed in Sunday's NY Times, put forth this idea:

The criminal justice system depends, at the trial level, on the willing complicity of the defendants to play their part in lubricating the gears of the machine. Specifically, the defendants have to agree to give up their right to be tried in order for the system to function.

So what would happen, she wonders, if the defendants decided to stop playing their role, and if a hell of a lot more of them said: "I've got a right to a trial. Prove your case, motherfucker."

The answer, of course, is that the system would crash. It would really crash if the defendants also refused to waive their constitutional right to a speedy trial.

It would never happen, of course. The prosecutors would peel people off by offering very attractive deals. The judges would max out everyone convicted at a trial. For the system needs blood to work and it will not be denied.

2 comments:

Yogi said...

Who's going to step up and be the ones who bleed for the rest? Which lawyers are going to tell their clients, "If you don't plead out for 30 days, the next guy will get a better deal."

Nice idea. Not even close to being workable. Elect better judges.

w3ski said...

As a scared person facing an up and coming DUI case, I Admit : I'd drop my drawers and grab my ankles for an easy way out of this. Deals ? Hell yea. At 58 I value my time and freedom excessievly, I don't need this shit.Not the time for me to make a point any more.
w3ski