97% of inmates take a plea bargain

[Silent]

2 hours ago, newtogolf said:

Or maybe it's because there are 64 million people in the UK, 66 million in France and over 320 million in the US

That doesn't really matter since he was talking about rates and percentages. But you can also trown the big European countries on one pile and count them togehter: the difference in percentages will still stand obviously. 

[saevel25]

7 hours ago, newtogolf said:

Or maybe it's because there are 64 million people in the UK, 66 million in France and over 320 million in the US

Bulk numbers mean nothing when not compared to the size of the population. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate

We are the 2nd highest incarceration rate in the world. Estimates have North Korea in the 600-800 range. They do not actively hand out their information. These are sad numbers. Either we have that many f'd up people in this country or we just like to send people to jail who would normally otherwise not be. 

[newtogolf]

2 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Bulk numbers mean nothing when not compared to the size of the population. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate

We are the 2nd highest incarceration rate in the world. Estimates have North Korea in the 600-800 range. They do not actively hand out their information. These are sad numbers. Either we have that many f'd up people in this country or we just like to send people to jail who would normally otherwise not be. 

We have a lot of people that break the law.  It doesn't matter whether or not people agree with drug laws (or any laws for that matter), as long as they are on the books you risk going to jail if you break them.  It's pretty simple logic.  

[boogielicious]

8 hours ago, newtogolf said:

We have a lot of people that break the law.  It doesn't matter whether or not people agree with drug laws (or any laws for that matter), as long as they are on the books you risk going to jail if you break them.  It's pretty simple logic.  

Unless you are wealthy and can afford to have high priced lawyers bail you out. I don't have sympathy for anyone who breaks the law and gets caught. But adequate representation is variable along economic lines unfortunately. 

[newtogolf]

3 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Unless you are wealthy and can afford to have high priced lawyers bail you out. I don't have sympathy for anyone who breaks the law and gets caught. But adequate representation is variable along economic lines unfortunately. 

That's true, expensive lawyers probably have a better track record than court appointed ones but there are so many other variables that factor into it that I'm not sure it really impacts the overall numbers greatly. 

[Valleygolfer]

On 2/19/2016 at 7:35 PM, saevel25 said:

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/due-process-dead-staggering-95-inmates-america-received-trial/#X80csDkRvcKyQdyi.99

What causes this, 

1. Money, court fees
2. It's averson. Though you may never be found guilty. The truth is that if you are found guilty in trial you are highly likely to see the harshest of sentences. 
 

 

The court system is extremely flawed. Conviction % of prosecutors affect a lot of this. People can be innocent but are scared of the courts. A prosecutor may have an innocent person but works a plea to keep a "winning" record. Compared to trial possibilities, this plea is a safer deal and possibly unfair, but the accused is in fear of the unknown. Meanwhile the prosecutor convinces himself that this person was a bad guy and has probably done other stuff that warrants jail time...