Criminal justice system could not handle enforcement of firearm laws

[jody]

What good are more federal firearm laws if the Federal Court system can’t use existing laws to the maximum to keep firearms out of the hands of unauthorized people?

New Plea Bargain Limits Could Swamp Courts, Experts Say

QUOTE
If Attorney General John Ashcroft's new directive limiting the use of plea bargains in federal prosecutions were enforced to the letter, legal experts said, the criminal justice system would soon face a crisis.

"If even just a small fraction of the 96 percent of all defendants who currently plead guilty end up going to trial, the courts will be overrun in no time," said Marc Mauer, the assistant director of the Sentencing Project, a research group in Washington that supports prisoners' rights.

The directive, which was issued on Monday to all federal prosecutors, requires them to charge defendants with "the most serious, readily provable offense" in every case and, with some exceptions, not to engage in plea negotiations thereafter.
UNQUOTE

[CO Liberal]

1. Sounds Like It Can't Handle ALL Laws

Another Catch 22 courtesy of the conservatives. They want to take a hard line on crime, but they don't want to pay the taxes required to support that level of effort.

[qb]

2. Simple - hire Halliburton to build more courthouses!

[GOPFighter]

3. Just curious...

...I read the article twice but saw nothing in it about firearm laws. Ashcroft's new directive would hinder the enforcement of ALL laws, not just firearm laws. This isn't about guns, but about overloading the judicial system beyond it's breaking point. This merely reinforces my suspicion that for some, the only issue that matters is guns.

GOPFighter

[library_max]

4. Plea bargaining makes the criminal justice system work

and has for a long time. This has zip, zero, nothing to do with guns.

[1a2b3c]

5. My plan to win the war on drugs

Flood the system.