marie2
Posts: 1690
Joined: 11/4/2008 From: Jersey Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam quote:
ORIGINAL: marie2 quote:
ORIGINAL: GotSteel quote:
ORIGINAL: tazzygirl How is it forced if he agreed to it? It constitutes coercion. In theory, the consequence for what he was "guilty" of is a prison term. The judge offered him an alternative. The boy voluntarily took it. That isn't coercion. I gotta disagree strenuously there. Prison for 10 years vs ?????????? most certainly IS coercion. I mean, by your definition, sticking a gun to someone's head to have them hand over the car keys isn't coercion. I think sticking a gun to an innocent person's head thereby "forcing" them to turn over the keys or be killed is coercion. On the other hand, someone facing a prison term for manslaughter because that's the common sentence, being giving an another option instead, isn't coercion. He plead guilty to manslaughter....Manslaughter carries the consequence of a prison term. You can take the usual prison term that you would have gotten anyway, OR you can have option number two; a route that might be more affective in your rehabilitation. Had the judge said "Prison, because I feel like making an idle threat, or church", then it would be coercion. But that's not the case. He would go to prison because he was guilty of manslaughter not because the judge pulled that out of his ass as an empty threat designed to "coerce". This is the whole reason behind plea bargaining. It isn't coercion if you're guilty and work out a deal that's more favorable for you than going to prison.
< Message edited by marie2 -- 11/26/2012 7:53:19 PM >
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