Post by open_mailbox on Aug 15, 2021 21:07:55 GMT -5
It's no secret that the current path through the criminal justice system is rocky at best when entering a not guilty plea. For those who are unfamiliar, the current (as of this writing) courts wiki page describes the process in detail. This itself was an attempt to codify a general desire for "more realism" in how court works. However, it hasn't really played out that way. My top pain points with the current system are:
In general, I think the root cause of these issues is a lack of feedback in the system. A person's journey through the criminal justice system begins with an arrest. However, there is no feedback mechanism that rewards (or punishes) the police for doing a good (or bad) job when it comes to ushering people through the courts. That is what I want to fix.
In the next couple weeks or so, we will roll out some changes to how this all works. When someone enters a plea of not guilty, they will be sentenced and fined the full amount of the charges as opposed to the 50% off that comes with a guilty plea. However, pleading not guilty will come with a right to appeal. The defendant has 30 (IRL) days to hire a lawyer to file an appeal on their behalf by opening a ticket in Discord with their intent and grounds for appeal. A judge will review each appeal, and if there is merit, will accept it for consideration.
Every so often, we will have an open court session in game with a live judge. These will be scheduled events. Think Judge Judy-style arbitration. During these court sessions, lawyers and defendants who have successfully appealed may go before the judge and argue their case. A representative from the DA's office will be allowed to make a counter-argument. The judge will make a ruling to either uphold the conviction or overturn it. If a conviction is overturned, the defendant will receive 2x the amount of fines from their original charges plus $100 for each month (minute) they spent in prison. Half of this total amount paid to the defendant for a successful appeal will be deducted automatically from the police operating budget. The other half will be billed against the arresting officer directly.
We are additionally considering allowing other arguments in front of the judge during these open court sessions. This is where people can come and argue civil suits or fight traffic fines.
These are significant changes to how our court system currently works which is why I'm writing this forum post ahead of time. I don't typically explain changes ahead of time, but something of this magnitude deserves an opportunity for discussion. I believe that these changes will nudge the criminal justice system in the right direction, but like everything else this is a work in progress. If it does not work, we will make further changes. We always take an iterative approach to system design, and the court system is no exception.
- It takes an excruciatingly long time (multiple IRL days) to herd the cats and go through the pre-trial steps. During that time, the defendant is (usually) held in custody, meaning the character is basically in a timeout.
- The charges being filed by police are often a bit too "idealistic". Generally speaking, police should not be filing charges if they aren't reasonably sure they can get a conviction. Just because someone can be arrested does not mean they should. This situation leads to more criminals wanting to enter a not guilty plea which is not what the justice system should be optimizing for.
In general, I think the root cause of these issues is a lack of feedback in the system. A person's journey through the criminal justice system begins with an arrest. However, there is no feedback mechanism that rewards (or punishes) the police for doing a good (or bad) job when it comes to ushering people through the courts. That is what I want to fix.
In the next couple weeks or so, we will roll out some changes to how this all works. When someone enters a plea of not guilty, they will be sentenced and fined the full amount of the charges as opposed to the 50% off that comes with a guilty plea. However, pleading not guilty will come with a right to appeal. The defendant has 30 (IRL) days to hire a lawyer to file an appeal on their behalf by opening a ticket in Discord with their intent and grounds for appeal. A judge will review each appeal, and if there is merit, will accept it for consideration.
Every so often, we will have an open court session in game with a live judge. These will be scheduled events. Think Judge Judy-style arbitration. During these court sessions, lawyers and defendants who have successfully appealed may go before the judge and argue their case. A representative from the DA's office will be allowed to make a counter-argument. The judge will make a ruling to either uphold the conviction or overturn it. If a conviction is overturned, the defendant will receive 2x the amount of fines from their original charges plus $100 for each month (minute) they spent in prison. Half of this total amount paid to the defendant for a successful appeal will be deducted automatically from the police operating budget. The other half will be billed against the arresting officer directly.
We are additionally considering allowing other arguments in front of the judge during these open court sessions. This is where people can come and argue civil suits or fight traffic fines.
These are significant changes to how our court system currently works which is why I'm writing this forum post ahead of time. I don't typically explain changes ahead of time, but something of this magnitude deserves an opportunity for discussion. I believe that these changes will nudge the criminal justice system in the right direction, but like everything else this is a work in progress. If it does not work, we will make further changes. We always take an iterative approach to system design, and the court system is no exception.