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Comment by superkuh | Hacker News Reader

Typical FBI. Make up dozens and dozens of bogus charges and commit to constant harassment until enough of the people targeted kill themselves. Then when a real judge finally gets involved slink away. Just like with Aaron Swartz and Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio.

Dear people flagging this, please stop perceiving my statements through your domestic political lenses. I am not talking politics here. Just because your team is currently pro-FBI or against-FBI doesn't mean I am talking about how the FBI interacts with your team. I am not.

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The police-prison-industrial complex is motivated to convict and keep millions of people incarcerated. Apropos book: Three Felonies a Day by Silerglate

And prison unions as well.

Indeed - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_lette...

It would help a lot if charges were an all or nothing basis. Either a jury convicts on all counts, or you go free, with all your legal bills paid and compensation for the false arrest and imprisonment.

Most criminal cases are open-and-shut deals where someone is clearly guilty of something, so for typical cases this policy wouldn't change much. But it would significantly reduce the power of government to harass innocent people.

I agree with part of your statement. I think if you were found not guilty, the state should have to pay your legal fees. It's an unfair fight against the full might of the government.

Another way to do it would be to require the state to provide funds for legal defense for everyone, regardless of income or assets, with at least with the same budget as they use for the prosecution.

Again, this won't change anything in the typical case, because the typical criminal case involves something who is clearly guilty. But it'll keep innocent people out of jail.

Or we could hire anyone who needed it a lawyer for their defense. We could call them public defenders.

I am suggesting public defenders. I'm suggesting we expand that to everyone who is charged. Because in the current system, legal bills tend to ruin people who get declared innocent and provide enormous incentives to plea to crimes people did not commit.

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