Re: The ignorant run amok
...and stop watching moronic TV law / police dramas and believing it's all real. Good grief.
Well said by someone who does not live in the US, who demonstrates complete ignorance of the US criminal justice system.
So-called 'plea bargains' are universally practiced at all levels: federal, state, district, and municipal. It has been so for at least three-quarters of a century, and has grown even worse in the near-half century since the 1970 US Supreme Court decision upholding prosecutorial plea bargain inducements.
I was threatened with a plea bargain by a city prosecuting attorney, in writing, which threatened "harshest possible punishment allowable by law" if I challenged a traffic citation for reckless driving... a very serious charge here in the US. The citation was issued on the basis of a complaint filed by a motorcyclist who, in a fit of road rage, attempted to force my car out of a traffic lane and into a concrete barrier. Two police officers showed up at my home, asked my version of events, and when I admitted to being accosted, they issued the ticket. I engaged a criminal defense lawyer, and shortly thereafter the city prosecution office sent me the plea bargain letter, and the direct threat of enhanced punishment if I refused.
The case never came to trial. In the months between charge and trial date, the city was forced to drop the case. The state refused to release the plaintiff from prison to attend the trial which his complaint had set in motion. He'd been re-incarcerated in state prison for parole violation.
My attorney had earlier attempted to persuade me to accept the plea bargain and not contest the case, for two reasons: first, the risk of a harsh penalty for refusing the plea bargain; and second, for reasons of personal safety. The plaintiff had a lengthy "rap sheet" including numerous violent assaults, including "aggravated" assault which is one step short of homicide. The situation was greatly exacerbated by the failure of the city police to conduct a simple background check, which would have revealed the fact that they were being "gamed" by an aggressive and vindictive convicted felon.
If you don't live in the US and have not experienced our criminal justice system, you have no basis of credibility for your statement.