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Saturday, March 26, 2022

Is This Actually a Practice Federal Judges Are Accepting?

7/28/21 WUSA discusses the 40 or so Jan. 6 defendants still being held without being bailable.  Some because the violence of the charged crimes might make them a danger to others (unlike those charged with rape, riot, and murder) but a former federal prosecutor also is quoted:

Rahmani said that for prosecutors arguing for defendants to be held without bond, it goes beyond protecting the safety of the community.  

“The biggest reason why federal prosecutors want to hold someone without bail is that it's much easier to get a plea agreement and a deal when someone's already in federal prison,” Rahmani said. “It's very difficult, especially for someone who has no criminal history, to sign that plea agreement and agree to surrender and go to federal prison. So, some of it is actually danger to the community, but some of it is actually strategy and tactics to get folks to plead guilty.”

Is this not contrary to speedy trial provision which requires trial within 70 days?  And you can hold without bond because they will not accept a plea bargain is that not preventing them from going to trial.  What have I missed here? Or are federal judges giving Jan. 6 defendants a different version of justice than say Antifa rioters?

Is this why so many defendants have pled guilty to what the article describes as fairly minor offenses?  Take this plea bargain or you will never get out.

3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Clayton,

    You posed a number of salient questions. I will also ask one of you: Do you still really think, after examining the instant issue, plus what you have undoubtedly witnessed in the past 2 years, that the rule of law continues to exist in this country?

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  3. You posed a number of salient questions. I will also ask one of you: Do you still really think, after examining the instant issue, plus what you have undoubtedly witnessed in the past 2 years, that the rule of law continues to exist in this country?

    ReplyDelete