I had set the line at 36 months. Professor Berman nailed it though predicting 24 months.
Judge Rakoff is a model judge, giving an example of how there should not be a trial tax and explaining that the loss guidelines made no sense. From law.com:
Rakoff rejected a guidelines range of 78 to 97 months as an irrational result
because it was driven by the amount of money involved in Rajaratnam's
trades and it was Rajaratnam, not Gupta, who made money on both bad and
good news coming from within the secret confines of Goldman Sachs'
boardroom. The judge said two years was enough to send a message of
deterrence to would-be insider traders.
Rakoff ordered the
sentence, set to begin on Jan. 8, after taking into account Gupta's
charitable giving through organizations such as the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Rakoff said Gupta had extended a "big
heart and a helping hand" to millions.
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
What an enormous difference between Judges that don't just talk the talk of mercy, etc...and then sentence like automatons...some of whom are down here, and those who actually believe in looking at the moral character of the defendants that come before them in passing sentence.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to point out that on Monday, October 22, 2012, the Not So Honorable Rumpole blogged about how much "Window 8 sucks." Moreover, he express is disdain for all Microsoft products. Now, what’s interesting is that Microsoft Windows 8 is actually being launched today Thursday, October 25, 2012. That means that the product will be available tomorrow in South Florida. Now, no one really asked Rumpole any significant follow-up questions regarding the new Windows version, but it's clear that he is a liar.
ReplyDeleteThat's what happens when anonymous bloggers live a lie. It eventually catches up with them in a pubic forum and it's embarrassing. It's the equivalency of a school girl lying and telling all her friends that she slept with Justin Timberlake and that he sucks in bed, but in reality she has no pictures to prove the encounter really happened and the truth is she never even met him. Now, what really happened here is that Rumpole read about Windows 8 somewhere and thought it would be cool to complain about it by implying that he already has the program and he's not satisfied with it, but that's impossible because it's officially launching tonight.
What he's going to say in an attempt to clear up this mess is that Bill Gates personally sent him the product before the public was able to get their hands on it. Don't embarrass yourself any further, Rumpole.
Read: "SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft will release a new version of its flagship Windows operating system, tailored for a world shifting from personal computers to smartphones and tablets, today at 9pm (IST)."
The lions of our bench, some who have passed on, and other districts around the country, have all realized that their adherence to guidelines stripped them of all judicial discretion and rendered them mere pawns to the legislative branch. there are a few who still blunder through, happy to rubber stamp the government or worse probation. but our best and brightest know better.
ReplyDeletebring the hammer when its merited. exercise your discretion when its not. i find the judges who stick to the guidelines after giving some lenghty speech about how they would prefer to not do so, very pathetic.
defendants "who" - not "that" - moron.
ReplyDeletePlease check out the real October surprise brought to you by Donald Trumps’ hairpiece on South Florida Lawyers most recent post - "3d DCA Watch -- Judge Salter Knows a Proper Lis Pendens When He Sees It!" - and make sure to read the comments.
ReplyDelete