Tuesday, June 06, 2017

Judges are speaking out

More and more, judges are starting to speak out against the real problems in our criminal justice system.  This time it's Judge Mark Bennett saying that min-mans are the worst injustice he has seen while on the bench.  From CNN:

"I strongly disagree with that decision," the judge says firmly from the bench.
It is not the first time he has felt this way. Bennett says 80% of the mandatory sentences he hands down are unjust -- but that he is handcuffed by the law, which leaves no room for judicial discretion to consider a sentence based on individual circumstances of the defendant. 
Too often, Bennett says, low-level nonviolent drug addicts dealing to feed their habit end up being sentenced like drug kingpins.
Bennett says if he had the power, he would jail Rice for perhaps a year, or 18 months. Across the street in a state courthouse, she would have been put on probation, he says.
"I think it's a miscarriage of justice," Bennett says. "But you know people are entitled to their own sense of what justice is."
In the courtroom, the judge lowers his head and his voice.
"With the greatest of reluctance, I sentence you to 60 months," he says.

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:03 PM

    "min-mans"?

    In the King's English, the adjective precedes the noun. The correct term is thus mandatory minimum and not minimum mandatory.

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  2. Anonymous4:12 PM

    @2:03, go back to the pub, you're Chevy Chased.

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  3. Anonymous9:10 PM

    Actually in my humble opinion, "sentence" is the noun and minimum and mandatory are both adjectives describing the sentence

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  4. Anonymous3:05 PM

    Actually mandatory is an adverb modifying the adjective minimum modifying the noun sentence.

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  5. Anonymous3:18 PM

    min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans min-mans

    ReplyDelete