undefined | Better HN

0 pointsDSingularity7y ago0 comments

I don’t know how I feel about this. At some point this just seems like BS, a rigged system where the crimes of the rich and white are “too complicated to prosecute” while the crimes of the poor and the minorities are so simple and easy.

Please. One day this system will collapse on itself.

0 comments

tptacek7y ago

No, you've made up a false debate. This case isn't "too complicated to prosecute"; it's just taking a long time to prosecute. Complex cases always will, because they're complex.

bruceb7y ago

Or just rich. Notice 1 of the 2 main defendants in the case isn't white.

As has been pointed out the more complex the crime the more time and money it takes to prove. Generally wealthier people can commit financial crimes that the poor can not.

volkl487y ago

The rich can afford expensive lawyers who require an airtight case to prosecute successfully. They also violate the law in much more convoluted schemes that require a lot of work to be able to piece together a case that a jury will understand and believe.

The poor have a shitty public defender who advises them to plead guilty even if they aren't, and if they committed a crime it's likely something simple and straightforward to explain and prove.

HarryHirsch7y ago

It's worse than that. I'm currently waiting for my former landlord to return the security deposit. The law insists that it be returned within a certain time with an accounting, otherwise there are punitive damages; the punitive damages serve to encourage the landlord to be honest in his dealings.

The clock has run out, but my lawyer advises against against asking for damages. Looking at the law, it should be a slam-dunk deal, but apparently the district judge is sufficiently corrupt not to be trusted.

It's not my job to school the landlord to be honest, and since there are no consequences for bad behaviour they will be dishonest and will continue to cheat students and other out-of-towners out of what is rightfully theirs. That, friends, is the reality in the US: groups of the population have good reason to believe that the legal system is not working for them.

Recently, a political TV program commented on the Brazilian election - on one side is a fascist, on the other a representative of party so corrupt that it's unelectable. The situation is approaching a civil war. In the US it's not quite as bad as in Brazil, but it's getting there.

tptacek7y ago

I think your lawyer is not good at their job. It's likely if you took your landlord to court, it'd take 12-18 months (during which you'd do nothing and incur minimal expenses waiting on the court calendar), and then, before you got to trial, your landlord would offer to settle for 50%.

The case itself, hit or miss, but 50% > 0%.

My big lesson from taking landlords to court is that the security deposit is a negotiation.

1 more reply

tigershark7y ago

Is small court claim not an option in US?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

tptacek7y ago

No, you've made up a false debate. This case isn't "too complicated to prosecute"; it's just taking a long time to prosecute. Complex cases always will, because they're complex.

bruceb7y ago

Or just rich. Notice 1 of the 2 main defendants in the case isn't white.

As has been pointed out the more complex the crime the more time and money it takes to prove. Generally wealthier people can commit financial crimes that the poor can not.

volkl487y ago

The poor have a shitty public defender who advises them to plead guilty even if they aren't, and if they committed a crime it's likely something simple and straightforward to explain and prove.

HarryHirsch7y ago

tptacek7y ago

The case itself, hit or miss, but 50% > 0%.

My big lesson from taking landlords to court is that the security deposit is a negotiation.

1 more reply

tigershark7y ago

Is small court claim not an option in US?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse