Thursday, March 22, 2012
Supreme reality pills?
What's with the Supremes this week? First they rule AGAINST the mass-slaughtering enemy occupation army, and now they've finally given guidance to REAL county and state courts. They must be taking reality pills.
I suspect the details of this decision on plea-bargaining are bad (favoring the defendant more than necessary), but the acknowledgment of reality is a huge step in the right direction. Until now the Supremes have operated on the bizarre assumption that jury trials were the sole mechanism of the American court system. Hasn't been true for half a century. In most states only 5% of cases reach a jury, and 95% are worked out by plea bargains. (Or settlements in civil cases.)
The real system makes perfect sense for the ordinary crimes that pass through county courts. With burglaries, assaults and standard-brand murders, the police are right and everyone knows it. No decision is needed, thus the cumbersome mechanism of trials is not needed. The handful of cases that reach a jury fall into two categories: (1) Genuinely dubious cases, with false accusation or police malpractice; (2) Rich dickheads who can afford a predatory lawyer.
Until now the Supremes have given guidance only to those rare cases that don't really depend on legal guidance anyway. (1) The seriously difficult cases require a wise and hard-nosed judge above all. (2) The rich dickheads will win 100% of the time, regardless of laws or judges or anything. Money trumps all.
Supremes have finally picked up the fact that real trials are more of a business proposition than a legal procedure, and many lawyers are bad at the business of negotiation. ¶ 5:35 PM
I suspect the details of this decision on plea-bargaining are bad (favoring the defendant more than necessary), but the acknowledgment of reality is a huge step in the right direction. Until now the Supremes have operated on the bizarre assumption that jury trials were the sole mechanism of the American court system. Hasn't been true for half a century. In most states only 5% of cases reach a jury, and 95% are worked out by plea bargains. (Or settlements in civil cases.)
The real system makes perfect sense for the ordinary crimes that pass through county courts. With burglaries, assaults and standard-brand murders, the police are right and everyone knows it. No decision is needed, thus the cumbersome mechanism of trials is not needed. The handful of cases that reach a jury fall into two categories: (1) Genuinely dubious cases, with false accusation or police malpractice; (2) Rich dickheads who can afford a predatory lawyer.
Until now the Supremes have given guidance only to those rare cases that don't really depend on legal guidance anyway. (1) The seriously difficult cases require a wise and hard-nosed judge above all. (2) The rich dickheads will win 100% of the time, regardless of laws or judges or anything. Money trumps all.
Supremes have finally picked up the fact that real trials are more of a business proposition than a legal procedure, and many lawyers are bad at the business of negotiation. ¶ 5:35 PM
