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<p>They plea-bargained the murder charge down to manslaughter and got three years probation and a $3,000 fine.</p>
<p>[Death</a> of Vincent Chin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Killing of Vincent Chin - Wikipedia”>Killing of Vincent Chin - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>If something like this occurred at the time without any racial implications, it would likely have been seen as an example of “soft on crime” plea bargaining and sentencing practices, since the 1980s was a time of increasing consciousness and fear of high crime rates and increasing “tough on crime” attitudes which led to a much greater tendency toward imprisonment for longer sentences in many states.</p>