the only difference between extortion and a fine is “due process”

remember, sometimes the mob has better rates

"only difference" and the quotes around "due process" are doing a lot of very heavy lifting there, trying to falsely equate due process and extortion

The entire point of Due Process is that it is NOT extortion. It is entirely designed to gather and weigh the facts, with respect to impartial laws created to maintain society.

While due process may fall short of those goals in some jurisdictions, acting like it is the literal same as extortion works only to further degrade society. You really do NOT want to live in a society with only extortion by local warlords, being themselves extorted by regional warlords, etc...

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scotty79 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Plea bargains are legal extortion. Nothing else. Pay us and we won't try to make your life living hell. There's no justice in that and it's a shameful practice of any legal system that allows it.

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toss1 a day ago | parent | next [-]

Call a plea bargain a distortion or corruption of due process, but even with plea bargains, due process is far less bad than extortion.

Plea bargains, within limits and when not abused are also sensible for both sides. An accused who is guilty can benefit from a years-lighter sentence by saving the prosecutor's office thousands of hours of work by taking a bargain. Or, they can always decline the bargain, go to trial, and potentially walk away acquitted, or be subject to the full legal penalty if convicted.

Where plea bargains go horribly wrong is when used against the innocent as a means of coercion to extract a conviction, and yes, that is extortion-like and a corruption of due process.

	▲	scotty79 a day ago \| parent [-]
		> Plea bargains, within limits and when not abused are also sensible for both sides. I disagree completely. The purpose of a just court is to establish what happened and administer appropriate punishment regardless of what either side thinks or what is convenient for them. Without this basic honesty the whole system is a mockery.

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JumpCrisscross 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> Plea bargains are legal extortion. Nothing else. Pay us and we won't try to make your life living hell

It’s closer to bribery than extortion. He should be in jail. He won’t be because he can pay.

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yieldcrv a day ago | parent | prev [-]

would you prefer I used italics instead?

one time I was forming a business in a state, in person. The price was $70 now, and I wanted to speed that up, as I was pulling out my kickback funds, they said I could do expedited processing for $200. The state actually codified expedited processing for $200 in a prescribed legislative process.

the only difference between the categorization of this transaction was due process.