[thenderson]

I'm not defending the practice of plea bargaining. Rather, I'm answering a poster's contention that many people in prison are there "just" for "prohibition" offenses. What I'm pointing out is that, though the conviction might be for drugs, it takes a lot more for someone to get sentenced to a state prison in NJ.

[Unknowing]

Oh, I'm certain that you are correct about the kinds of offenders who are incarcerated in the NJ state system. I just wanted to respond to that one sentence because it sounded so ironical -- and true.

And how about plea-bargaining! It does seem wrong to plead guilty to a "lesser offense" while the crimes of which a perpetrator is truly guilty are dismissed. The state gets their perp into a cell, and the perp makes a deal which lessens his sentence, but the truth is plowed under for fertilizer.