Go to Trial: Crash the Justice System

The New York Times ^ | Published: March 10, 2012 | MICHELLE ALEXANDER

[MetaThought]

More than 90 percent of criminal cases are never tried before a jury.

AFTER years as a civil rights lawyer, I rarely find myself speechless. But some questions a woman I know posed during a phone conversation one recent evening gave me pause: “What would happen if we organized thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of people charged with crimes to refuse to play the game, to refuse to plea out? What if they all insisted on their Sixth Amendment right to trial? Couldn’t we bring the whole system to a halt just like that?” ...

I was stunned by Susan’s question about plea bargains because she — of all people — knows the risks involved in forcing prosecutors to make cases against people who have been charged with crimes. Could she be serious about organizing people, on a large scale, to refuse to plea-bargain when charged with a crime?

“Yes, I’m serious,” she flatly replied. ...

But in this era of mass incarceration — when our nation’s prison population has quintupled in a few decades partly as a result of the war on drugs and the “get tough” movement — these rights are, for the overwhelming majority of people hauled into courtrooms across America, theoretical. More than 90 percent of criminal cases are never tried before a jury. Most people charged with crimes forfeit their constitutional rights and plead guilty.

“The truth is that government officials have deliberately engineered the system to assure that the jury trial system established by the Constitution is seldom used,” said Timothy Lynch, director of the criminal justice project at the libertarian Cato Institute. In other words: the system is rigged.

[sarasmom]

I read your version of four cases, one after the other.

I have to say Donnafrflorida, you sure do “run up the street” a lot when your sons are interacting with the police in your neighborhood. Mostly the contacts seem to involve two key words, alcohol and party.
The 2006 case involving your daughter is more troublesome, since you didn't mention alcohol or party...or why the police were called when the two year old got out the door left open by one of your sons. How long was that child missing before it was noticed, and who called the police?
Just out of nowhere, eight months later, police arrested your daughter, and her lawyer advised her to take a plea deal?....

You might want to contact the ACLU, and ask them to review your family's extensive legal problems with the police and courts ( www/aclufl.org ) if you are claiming your family is a victim of police misconduct.

[Donnafrflorida]

It was legal for my son to have drink at his friends house where he planned to spend the night. all he did was walk to the accident. he was arested since the officer said “someone was going to jail tonight”. that meant anyone. he picked my son. secondly by the time we went to court the officer was no longer an officer.
also the only other drinking was my other son. he was not charged with disorderly conduct or public intoxication. if his arrest was so important why let him go IF i could hand over drug dealers?
my daughters case?? i will go to my grave never understanding this.