Quote:
Originally Posted by markksman
It's the system's responsibility to pursue guilty people and not incarcerate innocent people. It's also not their job to get people convicted regardless of evidence or facts. People lie about stuff. That is not a reason for mindlessly pursuing a plea deal just to get a conviction to keep their percentages high.
It is entirely their responsibility. This is what they are there for. It seems you think their job is just to get convictions regardless.
Prosecutors get promoted and elected based on convictions.
Prisons (a business) get money based on people getting convictions.
Police have job security based on arrests. That send people to the court system. To become an elected prosecutor, it is de factor required that you are supported by the police union.
This all leads to a stacked deck against all individuals -- guilty or not guilty. Individuals have to pay for their own lawyer (if they can afford it) or are provided a lawyer that might as well work for their prosecutor.
If an individual wins (not guilty), they are not even compensated for the cost of their own defense. Let alone the emotional toll a trial would take.
It does not appear to be an equitable system. The explosion of people in jail may be proof. Or have we somehow become a more criminal society, yet crime statistics are significantly down the last couple of decades.