Friday, January 25, 2008

The Judicial Branch strikes again

This article reminded me of what we've been learning about in class this week/last week, since it relates to the power of judges. The basic story is that, on the night of my 17th birthday (coincidentally), a woman was driving with a BAC of .156, and hit and killed a biker with her car. She could have gotten away with only four years in jail (what a bargain, right?) but instead, is going to be locked up for 10 1/2 years. Why? She thought it was funny. And the judge thought it wasn't. Of course, saying that you had"taken out" a "tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot" in a phone call to a friend is probably not a phone call that is gonna help your case. Was this judge being an activist judge instead of just interpreting the law? I don't think so, since the article makes it seem that 11 1/2 years is the maximum sentence she could have received, and it was up to his discretion to determine how much of that he wants her to serve. But it still seems kind of subjective. This guy has her life in his hands. Six and a half years (10.5-4 for all the people wondering how I got that) can make a big difference is someone's life. Alot of stuff can happen in six.5 years, especially when you're 27. Then again, she killed someone. While driving drunk. And didn't care about it.

Another way this article reminded me about the Judicial branch was in the charges she was convicted of. "
Two months ago of negligent homicide and two counts of aggravated DUI." Two counts of each? She only killed one person, but maybe it's different because he was on a bike. I'm not sure. Maybe someone with some legal knowledge can explain how that worked out to be like that?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sure that the judge overhearing the woman's phone conversation played a role in the length of her sentence. As we learned, judges try to view cases objectively but after hearing the woman's conversation I think it would be practically impossible to view the case as if the judge hadn't heard the woman laughing. People like this woman disgust me. How anyone can laugh after killing someone is beyond me. It' horrifying.

Anonymous said...

Ok, so great sentencing in my opinion, someone driving drunk needs to be punished, especially if they kill someone. But, I will say that someone's attitude should not be a major influence, or at least legally it should not. Now I am not saying that I think it is okay for her to laugh about it, but what I am definitely saying is that it is not fair for a judge to treat someone differently based on regret. And I think our constitution would somewhat agree. A hypothetical situation: One of the poorest individuals in the world robs a bank and in doing so kills 3 people. Now the richest person in the world robs a bank and kills three people. Should they both receive the same punishment if it was the exact same crime, exact same judge,and exact same jury? No I know this would never happen, but this is where I think maximum and minimum punishments are not fair. You're either guilty, or your not and if it comes down to a judge to decide how guilty or how not guilty or how bad you feel afterwards, that is an entirely different story. So I do think the conversation took a play in the sentencing, do I think the sentence was fair? Yes, but do I think the reasons for the sentencing being the maximum punishment being based solely on the fact the individual had no remorse is fair, NO.

P.S. If she can have parol she will be out in 4 years tops anyways.

Ryan Landis said...

A.K.A. Mr. Silton Landy Man is Ryan Landis

Anonymous said...

I don't agree that remorse should have no weight in sentancing. Who needs to be locked up for longer, someone who shows genuine remorse for their crime or someone who says they would do it again?

Tara C said...

It may seem strange that a person's attitude about an accidental murder should affect their time in jail. But it makes sense. If a person felt terribe about killing another human by accident, they don't deserve quite as much time for their carelessness. Even if their carelessness did cost another person their life. But if they think it's funny, that's definitely not worth as little time in prison as if they feel guilty...