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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   30382 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 8, 2023

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Ulbricht got his sentence because he refused a deal that would likely have seen him out in fewer than 20 years, possibly even in 10, so they made an example of him.

I hate how plea deals work. Do British, Canadian, or other European systems have this many plea deals involved?

England doesn't use plea bargaining - it is technically illegal, although pre-sentencing guidelines it was possible to do informal plea bargains of the "We will drop the grievous bodily harm charge if you plead guilty to actual bodily harm" type. These no longer work because the sentencing guidelines (like the US Federal ones) tell judges to sentence based on the offending behaviour, not the specific crime the defendant was convicted of.

The current guideline for guilty pleas is that you get a third off the sentence if you plead guilty at the first opportunity (equivalent to pleading guilty at the arraignment in the US system), and between a quarter and a tenth off if you plead guilty later than that but before the opening of the trial. No negotiation.

Pleas don't generally exist in civil law so plea bargaining is therefore rare/non-existent.

The prosecuted can confess and that might affect sentencing but it doesn't really impact the trial beyond the confession being entered into evidence. The trial will proceed regardless and someone might even be found not guilty despite their confession.

Pleas don't generally exist in civil law so plea bargaining is therefore rare/non-existent.

Isn't that just an out-of-court settlement?

I'm talking about criminal cases, not civil cases. Out of court settlements for civil cases exist in both civil and common law.

I believe plea bargain by definition pertains to criminal law, but I might be wrong.

Thanks for the clarification.

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