Are you kidding me?

[Lewkowski]

The problem this country has is liberal judges and their pathetic leniency in sentencing. Take the choice away from these idiots. I hope the judge gets investigated, the only reason I can think of to not want to keep this sicko in prison is if you also have tendency toward sexual abuse.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nati...152250822.html

"A California man who pleaded guilty raping his intoxicated 16-year-old sister will spend less than four months in jail after a judge sentenced him to probation.

Nolan Bruder, 20 of Crescent City, pleaded guilty to rape of an intoxicated person on May 17. As part of the plea agreement, charges of unlawful intercourse, incest and providing a minor with drugs were dropped. The recommended sentence was six years in prison and no probation, Del Norte (California) District Attorney Dale Trigg said."

[Timbuk2]

The problem here is not liberal judges, it's the idiotic plea-bargaining system you have over there

[RandBlade]

Sounds like both in this case. The DA took the easy option of getting a plea so dropped many of the most serious offences, then the judge took the remaining offences and dropped the punishment. Then the DA acts outraged that the judge dropped the sentencing for such a serious case despite not taking many of the offences to the judge due to the plea.

Should be an overhaul of both sentencing (though sounds like that's already happened, but too late for this case) and of the plea bargaining system.

[EyeKhan]

Take the choice away from these idiots.

I think one of the points of having a judge in the criminal justice system is that a one-size-fits-all mandatory sentence is often not just and does more harm than good, depending on the circumstance of the criminal and crime committed. I'm not familiar with this case so I won't comment on whether this sentence is just or not, but the creation of across-the-board mandatory sentences, nullifying the judge's role in that aspect of the system, has grave potential for punishing people more than is warranted and generating serious societal problems as a consequence. Yeah, I know you think extreme punishment is always warranted. We will never agree on that or affect each other's opinion, so feel free not to reply.

[LittleFuzzy]

Agreed with Choobs. The root word in judicial is judge. The application of human thought and analysis. I don't want a system of robotic automatons, you can't create a detailed enough system to match the flexibility required by real life human complexities.

[Lewkowski]

Agreed with Choobs. The root word in judicial is judge. The application of human thought and analysis. I don't want a system of robotic automatons, you can't create a detailed enough system to match the flexibility required by real life human complexities.

I agree that not ALL situations can be accounted for. However I think as a society we can generally agree that there should be some sort of minimum sentence for people who drug and rape their underage sister. Do you disagree?

[LittleFuzzy]

I agree that not ALL situations can be accounted for. However I think as a society we can generally agree that there should be some sort of minimum sentence for people who drug and rape their underage sister. Do you disagree?

I'd rather see the occasional person get off too lightly than a rigid system where bunches of people get off too lightly and others get hit too heavily, which is the inevitable result of any (reasonable) mandatory sentencing system. I think the aggregated actions of judges, acting as informed individuals, will come far closer to what we both would regard as the proper sentencing in the greatest number of cases than any mandatory system set up by legislators acting in committee.

[Lewkowski]

I'd rather see the occasional person get off too lightly than a rigid system where bunches of people get off too lightly and others get hit too heavily, which is the inevitable result of any (reasonable) mandatory sentencing system. I think the aggregated actions of judges, acting as informed individuals, will come far closer to what we both would regard as the proper sentencing in the greatest number of cases than any mandatory system set up by legislators acting in committee.

In fairness I support mandatory minimums for violent crimes instead of mandatory maximums. I think there should be some leeway in cases for a judge to provide a longer sentence, not a shorter sentence.

[LittleFuzzy]

In fairness I support mandatory minimums for violent crimes instead of mandatory maximums. I think there should be some leeway in cases for a judge to provide a longer sentence, not a shorter sentence.

I said what I did reasonable mandatory sentencing systems because I know that really, you'd be fine with a minimum 20-year sentence for anything and everything.