Sorry, this is an exclusive game! Only the people prosecutors say are playing it get to play it.
It seems like in this case they’re going with the strategy they reserve for more serious crimes of trying to force plea deals that result in people doing time without ever having a trial. But to make that work, anyone who doesn’t take a deal has to get smacked down, hard, by prosecutors. They can’t reward those who don’t go along with their plan. It’s a far more serious, long-term means of stifling dissent.
