Ham Sandwich Nation

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While I disagree with the implication that even a reformed grand jury system is the way to deal with it, I otherwise agree with almost everything Glenn Harlan Reynolds writes in Ham Sandwich Nation: Due Process When Everything Is a Crime.

As former chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals, Sol Wachtler, was famously quoted in Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities, "a grand jury would 'indict a ham sandwich,' if that's what you wanted.” (Notably, Wachtler said this before he was charged with extortion, racketeering, and blackmail.)

I especially agree with Reynolds on this:
"Our criminal justice system, as presently practiced, is basically a plea-bargain system with actual trials of guilt or innocence a bit of showy froth floating on top."
Check out the six page paper here at SSRN.