Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
All I can go by is what the article says. The first sentence that I quoted says "The federal Probation Department recommended no prison sentence...". Of course Federal judges are free to follow their whims whenever they wish, but the article does make it clear that Judge Cotes' issue was that she didn't like the idea that someone would say that the defendant was trying to follow the American Dream. It will be interesting to see if there is an appeal on the sentence.
As far as the rhetoric about Al Capone, I'm pretty sure that following the American Dream was not mentioned with regards to Al Capone's sentencing.
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It seems the Judge has committed the heinous crime of not following a Departmental recommendation. Of this crime I would think even Judges whose opinions you agree with are sometimes guilty. In fact, if they were not and simply followed recommendations made by officials one would have to wonder whether they were properly performing their role in the judiciary.
The "American Dream" submissions offend me, and I am not even an American. They are very relevant to the question of the appropriate sentence, as they go to issues of remorse and of the Defendant's understanding of their wrong doing and even arguably to the likelihood of re-offending. In fact, prima facie the sentence seems to be far too lenient, though I do not presume to condemn the Judge for this, as I did not sit through the trial and am not privy to all of the facts and circumstances, nor am I familiar with the relevant sentencing guidelines which applied.
I also agree with Hitch. The crimes against the English language remain unpunished.