Reply to Fairfax county prosecutor no more cash bail, no mandatory minimum and soft on felons

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Reply to "Fairfax county prosecutor no more cash bail, no mandatory minimum and soft on felons"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m not sure the prosecutor has much control over the conditions of release, if any, a court might say sponte impose. As for mandatory minimums, the prosecutor might control that by not charging certain offenses but beyond that it would again seem up to the court.

As for mandatory minimums doing harm in “certain communities,” that would be true if you mean the community of violent recidivist felons who fail to respond to corrections imposed for prior convictions. [/quote]

You didn't read the article, and I'm not sure OP did either.

The prosecutor said Fairfax would stop using mandatory minimums [i]in plea deals[/i].  He did also say he'd ask the legislature to abolish mandatory minimums, but that of course is up to the legislature.  It is not up to the court, that is the "mandatory" part.

It's true that a judge can impose conditions of release without the prosecutor requesting them, but the prosecutor not asking for bail greatly reduces the likelihood of bail being one of those conditions.  There are other conditions of release such as participation in drug treatment.  Interestingly, studies done in other counties where cash bail is eliminated show that eliminating it has little or no impact on people actually showing up for court.  Eliminating cash bail also reduces recidivism, as even a few days in jail pending trial can cause people to lose their jobs.[/quote]

The number of people who just jump to outrage and preexisting caricatures of progressives is nuts.  Read the damn article, at a minimum.

Also, the sheer amount of ignorance on the criminal justice system is disturbing.  Mandatory minimums are NOT up the court.  That's the point of them.  Indeed, many judges dislike them, too.  And cash bail, which does not exist in the federal system, is harmful.  People can end up sitting in jail just because they don't have the money to pay the bail, and not because anyone thinks they are a flight risk or a danger to the community.  [/quote]

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