Serial: S03 Episode 05: Pleas Baby Pleas

October 15, 2018 3:56 PM

Don't tell the judges, but the prosecutors have the most power in the building.

Again, a fascinating look at the cogs & logic behind law in practice, and specifically the known unknowns involved in setting the pleas that will prelude the sentencing.

posted by progosk (6 comments total)

I've been enjoying this season quite a bit so far, but this episode was the first that I found really hard to follow. (I actually just barely finished it, and was happy to find that there's a new thread already). The quick cuts between the ongoing stories left me "wait, are we talking about the baby killer now? No, the bus killer? Shrug." (Ten minutes after finishing the episode, I couldn't tell you what names describe which suspect).

Also, I'm not really left me thinking that it was an episode about plea deals so much, but that it did pose, very quickly and with absolutely no follow up, on the question of how long a sentence is the correct, or even long enough sentence. Again, this could be because I found the various stories hard to keep track of, so I probably have the incorrect idea of what I just listened to.

Definitely, for me, one of those podcast episodes that I probably would have been better off just reading instead of listening, so I could go back and forth keeping track of names, details, etc.

I'm sure the next comment will be "Wow, powerful episode; I found it so easy to follow and have such a gut reaction to it," so my tired ADD-rattled brain should just instruct me fingers to click the Post Comment button.
posted by General Malaise at 4:21 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

my tired ADD-rattled brain should just instruct me fingers to [...]
posted by General Malaise

eponymedical
posted by progosk at 12:36 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

Definitely, for me, one of those podcast episodes that I probably would have been better off just reading instead of listening, so I could go back and forth keeping track of names, details, etc.

I had the same issue, to the point that I started wondering whether it was intentional.
posted by Etrigan at 6:24 AM on October 16, 2018

As an insider in the criminal justice system, I LOVED this episode because so infrequently do people talk about why almost everyone pleas (and why it is rational/advisable for almost everyone to plea, the way the current system is set up). A little hard to follow with her specific examples, maybe, but the larger point is a powerful one.

Judging by the previous comments, though, I guess it's a pretty good example of why so few people seem to know much about the Way Things Work, because the wheeling and the dealing does get confusing, and facts do get mixed up, and people are churned at an alarming pace through the system. The episode felt like the way the system is, which is to say confusing and opaque, I guess.
posted by likeatoaster at 3:43 PM on October 16, 2018 [3 favorites]

I loved this episode, it left me breathless. The moment where Sarah says "I get it. When no one feels fully responsible for the outcome, when blame is spread out and diluted, a situation like [this] becomes easier to shrug off. 'What are you gonna do?' starts to feel like an answer, rather than an urgent question."" captivated me so much I went back and listed to it three times. Then I posted on Facebook to recommend to all my friends who had bailed on Season 2 that they should definitely listen to Season 3.
posted by arcticwoman at 12:51 PM on October 19, 2018

I haven't listened, but I will. Someone I know was recently arrested on a possession charge. I've been trying to support them by being present at the court dates and with the lawyer. It's been... a disturbing wake up call. I thought I understood how the courts worked. I don't.
posted by xammerboy at 9:38 PM on October 28, 2018