[Tango-L] Speak up if you are uncomfortable

[Alex]

A side note to the side show...

There is a gross assumption going on here...a gross group
assumption...groupthink on a societal scale...the assumption that our system
of criminal justice actually works...

Well, it doesn't...

Pleading guilty to a charge does not mean you are actually guilty...

Pleading innocent and then being found guilty by a jury does not mean you
are actually guilty...

Plea bargaining and admitting guilt to a lesser charge does not mean you are
guilty...

Sometimes, the quickest, cheapest, easiest way out of the criminal justice
system, with the least brain damage, is to plead guilty...

If you are faced with a retainer of $15,000 to plea bargain and plead guilty
to a lesser charge...and be done with it in under 6 months...with a
guarantee of no jail time...

Or a $50,000 retainer to fight for your innocence in court (for a year or
more), with no guarantee of being found innocent...even if you are...

Which option would you choose?

I'm not saying anything about whether Chas is innocent or not...I don't
care...he is my friend...I refuse to judge him in this matter...

I'm just saying our justice system does not work like we would all like to
think it does...

It's more about the "process" and the money, than it is about true
justice...crime pays...the criminal justice system is a substantial part of
the U.S. economy...jobs depend on it...political careers depend on
it...promotions and raises depend on it...

The guilty often go free...

And the innocent are treated as guilty...found guilty or incarcerated...

And then there is the fallacy of "innocent until proven guilty"...in the
criminal justice system, it is "guilty until you prove your innocence"...

I, for one, would like to see my tax dollars for cases such as this be dealt
with in a more efficient and less costly manner, an alternative which is
currently non-existent...a good analogy would be ICU versus outpatient
care...