Originally Posted by scoreman

Jayeff,
If the FSC were to do a deal with the DOJ where the DOJ agreed to not prosecute FSC members in return for dropping of their suit and/or the TRO, the DOJ would be getting a benefit. The fact that they have given amnesty to FSC members does not mean that the created two laws, it just means that the are under a binding agreement to not prosecute the FSC.

Deal making like this is perfectly legal. The State or the Feds are always able to cut deals that further the Govt interests. There has always been a pretty loose standard as to what constitutes furthering the Govt interests. In Florida, trial court Judges can refuse to accept any such settlements if they find them unacceptable, although in reality this doesnt happen much. Most judges feel if they can get the prosecutor on record saying that they want to do this deal then who are they to get in the way and certainly if this deal blows up, most of the blame can be placed on negligence of the prosecutors office and not them. If such deals were not permissible and could be challenged successfully, the entire negotiation and plea system of our Courts would be in peril. Think alone of the amount of cases this would put in a position where the only resolution would be jury trial.