Nolle prosequi

Philosophy Forums Society, Government, and Economics
1

Its been my idea for a while, that my state should not really ever fight or demand extradition of a criminal another state wants, short of a really extreme case that triggers a statute of limitations while someone is imprisoned on a minor crime and will get out rather quickly, scotfree for the much more horrible one.

Basically, say your state has a warrant out for someone’s arrest, but so does another state… if they convict them, they jail him, and foot the court costs and jail time… not your state. They will do it with or without you, you don’t need a court battle on who has priority. Let them have him.

I didn’t actually know what the term was for this till now, Nolle Prosequi… to decline to prosecute, even if in the midst of a trial.

The exception would be, say someone robbed 20 banks, shot several people who were severely disabled. He hides out for years, statute of limitations nearly up… and he is arrested in another state for drunk driving with a mandatory jail sentence. No way in hell he gets the much minor system and walks out clean as a whistle after getting out of DUI camp.

I in general am opposed to sentencing based on time in the first place, but realistically, its going to happen, so if were gonna do it, we should be cheap as possible and let our more impulsive neighbors take these cases when we have the option. Its so much cheaper in the end… for us.

2

There’s more going on behind the curtain, Turd. A state sometimes wants to extradite a criminal and imprison him because they can make money off housing the criminal. Most prisons are given more money than actually needed to run the prison, and the bureaucrats pocket the rest. The prison system is one of the most lucrative businesses there is. It works closely with corrupt prosecutors; send more people to prison so we can make more money. In turn, the prosecutor raises his conviction rate which makes him more eligible for re-election. Bada bing, bada boom.

3

In my state, the corrupt prosecutors need to fuck over their neighboring states, not the people of our own, when such opportunities present themselves.