State Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, has introduced a bill to punish defendants for going to trial instead of taking plea bargains. Kyle Whitmire’s newsletter, “Alabamafication” examines the outsized influence of this very strange state, taking aim at corruption, cruelty, incompetence and hypocrisy while also seeking out those righteous folks making their state and country better places for all.An Alabama lawmaker wants to raise the stakes for criminals who dare to ask for a jury trial.
They charged him with murder even though it was the police who shot the other teen as he and Smith were fleeing. Smith didn’t know his friend had died until police told him later at the station. Recently, Smith was resentenced after his lawyers pushed back. This time he got 30 years in prison, meaning he’ll be done when he’s older than I am now — a middle-aged man.In criminal justice, this is known as the “trial tax.” Prosecutors incentivize defendants to plead guilty in exchange for lighter sentences.If you make the prosecutors prove you did it, you will face a much stiffer sentence if you’re found guilty.
Hill says he thinks too many defendants are opting to go to trial and that the sentencing guidelines don’t do enough to incentivize defendants to take plea bargains. The cost of jury trials has gone down steadily, too. In 1999, Alabama courts spent $2.3 million on jury trials. In 2019, the last year before the pandemic disrupts the data, that number had fallen to $1.3 million.
Whether it’s politically popular or not, a plea bargain is supposed to be a bargain: If you take this offer, the state saves money and you serve less time. Hill’s bill flips that proposition on its head. It makes the guidelines the starting point and says If you don’t take this deal, you get more time.
WarOnDumb Ask Ronnie Gilley if taking a plea helped. He took a plea to testify against co-conspirators and they got off and he did time. The cohorts were elected off. Harri Aane Smith and millionaire Milton McGregor.
WarOnDumb Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Whitmire. A plea deal is a settlement, and there may be valid reasons to settle for both the defendant and the state. But you shouldn’t be penalized for exercising your rights. This is already out of control in the federal system.
WarOnDumb They tried to get my mother to take a plea deal on some fake charges. She refused. They dropped the entire case two days later. They knew they had nothing on her but still tried to scare her into pleading guilty.
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