cxGiCOLQAMKrn t1_je3cwrd wrote on March 29, 2023 at 2:45 AM

You're conflating two different things. "Guilt" and "innocence" only apply to criminal law. Settling a case only happens in civil courts.

Criminal cases are brought by the government (district attorney), and cannot be settled. The punishments for criminal offenses are fines, community service, and/or jail time (possibly other conditions such as required addiction counseling). If someone is found guilty, they owe their fine to the government. The closest thing to "settling" a criminal case is to take a plea deal, meaning you do admit guilt, usually in exchange for a lesser sentence than you might receive if found guilty at trial. In some cases, the DA might also offer to drop charges if you give them information which leads to a more serious case against someone else.

Civil cases are brought by a third party, and the punishments are generally limited to money. If someone loses a civil case, they owe money to the person who sued them. There is no crime for them to be "guilty" of. Settling a case means they made an agreement with the person suing them, who agreed to drop the lawsuit in exchange for some payment.

Vadered t1_je3z5q1 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 6:32 AM

> The closest thing to "settling" a criminal case is to take a plea deal, meaning you do admit guilt, usually in exchange for a lesser sentence than you might receive if found guilty at trial.

In most US jurisdictions you can actually "plead guilty" while still maintaining innocence. It's called an Alford plea, and it's basically saying, I didn't do it, but if we went to trial you could probably get a conviction based on the evidence you have, and I'd rather take the plea deal and reduce my sentence.

It's an important thing to allow because you shouldn't have to admit guilt if you aren't guilty, but you also deserve the same ability to reduce your sentence as somebody who pleads guilty. Why would you want to accept a sentence when you are innocent? Well, the system isn't perfect. Sometimes the police fixate on the wrong suspect and fail to investigate everything. Sometimes the evidence is misleading. And while the law requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, sometimes genuinely unreasonable things happen.