Reply #11: The vast majority of people being arrested are being charged with violations

[alcibiades_mystery]

At least in NYC. So, there are three levels of offense, as most well know:

LOWEST LEVEL: Violation
MIDDLE LEVEL: Misdemeanor
HIGHEST LEVEL: Felony

In New York, almost all protestors are being issued desk appearance tickets for violations-level charges (disorderly conduct, for example, is a violations-level charge). Violations are adjudicated in special violations courts, and are - in my experience - exclusively bench "trials" (i.e., they are determined by a judge). As far as I could tell in my numerous visits to violations court during the Giuliani crackdown, there is no provision for a jury trial for violations - indeed, there isn't even a space for a jury at the violations court in Queens.

I'm not really convinced that you *could* request a jury trial for a violation - it might default to a bench trial as a matter of law or policy. If you *can* request a jury trial, you'd do so at significant risk. Most violations have penalty structures that heavily incentivize both guilty pleas and payment of fines. So, for something like turnstile jumping, it's something like "$200 or 90 days in jail." Who the fuck would take 90 days in Rikers island rather than scrape together $200? Nobody, that's who. Now, as with misdemeanor and felony trials, opting for the trial itself - and especially a jury trial for a violation, would probably induce a judge to impose the maximum allowable penalty, so supposing jury trials can even be requested for violations-level charges, doing so is a significant risk, if you're going to face 3 months in NYC jails rather than paying $200.