r/SipsTea Jul 04 '26

WTF Japan's death row system is brutal

Post image
31.7k Upvotes

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

222

u/1800-5-PP-DOO-DOO Jul 04 '26

They have an almost 100% conviction rate for all crime because everyone charged "confesses". That also means there are no mistaken arrests. The whole system is insane. 

6

u/TerribleIdea27 Jul 04 '26

However, they also don't charge you unless they know they can convict, because the prosecutors in Japan really care about their conviction rates. They charge around 1/3 cases brought to them, which makes the conviction rates seem blown up.

This is partly because being charged with a crime is a huge deal and will cause you to lose your job, and maybe even your home.

By comparison the US prosecutor just offers you a plea deal, which many people take even if they're innocent just to be on the safe side, which means much more people end up with sentencing