Does anyone else have a serious issue with this? In some US states if you plead guilty to a capital offence (first degree murder for example) the judge can't sentence you to the death penalty, instead you'll get life in prison.
The problem I see here is it's duress. Many people may think the cops looking for evidence are crooked, or don't trust the justice system to find them not-guilty when they actually are not-guilty, or they've been framed. So, rather than risk a possible death sentence they plead guilty to whatever charges laid against them.
This could also be made worse by police going "If you don't sign this confession I guarantee you'll see the chair". A lot of weak willed people without a lawyer (or a crappy lawyer) would probably fold at this.
This seems really flawed.
This could be easily resolved by abolishing the death penalty altogether. This problem with coerced confessions is one of many terrible issues that stem from executing people.
Does anyone have anything to add that is more than just "ban the death penalty!"? Yes, most of us know the Death Penalty is shitty, lets move on from that though.
The problem I see with this is it would encourage innocent people to plead guilty to avoid a death sentence instead of sticking it out in a trial. It follows the same issues plea deals have.
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