Quote:
Originally Posted by pocketkangaroo
It certainly sets a bad precedent. I would think a lawyer advertising himself as a champion of the first amendment would not be so keen on taking cases that are going to be pleaded out. I of course am not in the shoes of the people who are being tried, so it's hard to say that they should let them play out. The pleas may have honestly been in the best interest of the client.
But if I was arrested for obscenity, I'm going to try and hire a guy who has actually won cases.
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federal cases are NOT like standard state cases
if you take a federal case to trial and LOSE you will get stuck with everything the prosecutor can throw at you & the courts don't look kindly on you wasting their time (you are guilty after all)
this is why 95% of federal indictments end up in a plea of some sort
fed time is 85%, mandatory minimums & guidelines fuck a lot of people over (ie, 10 years MINIMUM for like 1 gram of crack)...
they scare people into convictions & pleas
i'd rather take 5 years than try to take a stand for the adult industry, spend thousands of dollars (fed attorneys & trials cost like 3-4x as much as state), and risk a shitload of time for multiple obscenity & money laundering convictions... its fucked up
take a look at this:
http://www.famm.org/ExploreSentencin...Injustice.aspx
just because you feel you're not guilty are you willing to take that chance? the feds don't indict like the standard cop can arrest you... a grand jury decides if the evidence against a specific party is significant enough to proceed with charges