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cazzhmir t1_ixird1p wrote

Reply to comment by Franklinia_Alatamaha in Police: Man, 25, charged in connection with string of robberies at off-campus Temple residences by Franklinia_Alatamaha

I really genuinely support a more human-centered approach to prosecution for nonviolent and petty offenses. This should not have been one of those cases.

I understand what Krasner stands for, but this marks the continuation of a pattern of absolute nut-jobs slipping through the cracks, and then going on to swiftly reoffend in bold, but ultimately predictable ways.

You literally have the guy in custody for arson and aggravated assault. Surely there are ways to accurately assess his risk of not just reoffending, but once again brazenly violating person and property.

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Aromat_Junkie t1_ixj0aa9 wrote

What we have is not working, our jail rates are very high, we have tough on crime, a police state that outranks most militaries worldwide in terms of weapons, personnel, budgets etc.

However, I don't think it's the place of the DA, who's job is to prosecute the laws on the books to be doing it with discretion.

Frankly I think there needs to be a whole lot less discretion.

Court cases now are like going into a used car dealership. Sticker price (proscribed punishments) have nothing to do with final results. Nobody goes to trial. Nobody finishes with the charges they started with. It's all behind the scenes dealing and juggling.

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hellomondays t1_ixj0op5 wrote

It's always been that way, prosecutorial discretion is a core principle of functioning legal systems. Without it there would be more civil rights violations and our criminal justice system would be paralyzed by resources being spread even thinner than now.

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Aromat_Junkie t1_ixjo7yu wrote

It's actually a problem. I'd rather more public outcry, and more juries nullifying outcomes for grannies getting sent to prison for 10 years for not putting their handicap sign in the window or whatever inane bullshit there is instead of the totally fake system we have now.

> our criminal justice system would be paralyzed by resources being spread even thinner than now.

Good. If the government can't prove guilt in a timely fashion, the innocent should not have to put up with it.

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dreexel_dragoon t1_ixjc8g7 wrote

Getting rid of prosecutorial discretion is what got us shit like mandatory minimums

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Aromat_Junkie t1_ixjod3k wrote

prosecutorial discretion is the reason why we need mandatory sentencing guidelines put out by the state so that judges cant run backroom deals for white dudes and let them out and put a bunch of black guys in prison for longer.

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dreexel_dragoon t1_ixjohr1 wrote

My guy we literally tried these before and it failed categorically

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Aromat_Junkie t1_ixjpdlt wrote

maybe man. all I know is that white women commit the same crime as black men and walk with less sentences. I know that prosecutors hold really high number of years over peoples heads to avoid going to trial. They endlessly delay delay delay and keep people who haven't been proven guilty or ever seen a jury locked in jail for years sometimes.

I bitched a LOT about the police department, but the more I realize how interconnected and fucked up the police, judges, DAs are all in on it. even public defenders telling you to cop a plea for something you didn't do. They're all in on it in some fashion or another. All playing a role in how fucking incredibly insane the situation is.

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_token_black t1_ixkcb85 wrote

Philly is a prime example where failure at every level leads to a completely broken system. And no I don't only mean politically. I'm talking leadership in city entities, the FOP, Harrisburg, you name it.

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TheBSQ t1_ixkerc7 wrote

This is my main gripe with the whole “Krasner sucks, no PPD sucks!” Arguments on this thread.

Shit is so broken. Mayor, PPD, FOP, DA, City Council, Harrisburg…everything.

There is no side anyone should be proud of supporting.

I do think you can argue that some are worse than others, and I’m not espousing some “both sides are equally at fault” but no one one’s hands are clean, and no one should feel proud.

It’s a fucking shit show.

I split my time between Philly and another city in another country, and I was watching a mayoral debate there recently, and it’s so weird to see a debate where, honestly, I’d be ok with any of the candidates, left, right, or center, because they all seem reasonable and competent, just with different priorities or philosophies for how to approach the city’s problems (eg, change regulations to make it easier for private companies to fix it versus raise taxes to fund a govt initiative to fix it).

It’s so fucking depressing to come back here where it’s just such a disgrace of incompetence all around with zero good options.

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Aromat_Junkie t1_ixklkuq wrote

> It’s so fucking depressing to come back here where it’s just such a disgrace of incompetence all around with zero good options.

And that's why I left queue music

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