Ashcroft Wants List of Lenient Federal Judges

[Robbien]

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Attorney General John Ashcroft (search) wants prosecutors to closely monitor which judges impose more lenient sentences than federal guidelines recommend, a step some critics say could limit judicial independence.

Ashcroft directed U.S. attorneys nationwide to promptly report to Justice Department headquarters when a sentence is a "downward departure" from guidelines and not part of a plea agreement in exchange for cooperation.

"The Department of Justice has a solemn obligation to ensure that laws concerning criminal sentencing are faithfully, fairly and consistently enforced," Ashcroft wrote in the memo issued July 28.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,94039,00.html

[WindRavenX]

1. This is probably about marijuana...

So many things wrong with this...
How many of you want to bet that this is all about pot? You know, some judges actually NOT wanting to clog up the justice system with pot smokers?

[slackmaster]

24. That was my initial thought as well

Like that medical marijuana activist in the Bay Area who got a one day federal sentence and was released for time served awaiting trial. Ashcroft must be really pissed about that one.

[Undemcided]

26. The key is the jury

A judge should not let his personal feelings interfere with the judicial process. I agree that non-violent drug offenders should be sent home though and I think the best way to do this is make jury nullification better known and more widespread.

Jurors should acquit, even against the judge's instruction...
if exercising their judgement with discretion and honesty
they have a clear conviction the charge of the court is wrong.
-- Alexander Hamilton, 1804

Link : http://www.erowid.org/freedom/jury_nullification/jury_nullification.shtml

[xxqqqzme]

2. herr asscrack

is one sick, twisted rat bastard. He NEVER should have been confirmed.

[0rganism]

3. but you gotta admit, he's perfect for the job in cynical bushco

Think about it. The whole administration is stuffed to the brim with exactly the antithesis of the just. His position makes the same kind of ironic logical sense that Gail Norton's does as Sec. of the Interior or Rumsfeld as Sec. of Defense.

The confirmation that should never have been was on Dec. 12, 2000. Everything that followed was par for the course.

[Bundbuster]

11. Remember that his first priority after appointment was

overturning Oregon's legally enacted "Death With Dignity" law for terminally ill patients,with strict guidelines for multiple Doctors' review & approval. This priority against compassion for the terminally sufferring comes from a religious zealot and States Rights advocate who strongly supports the shrub Junta on Capitol Punishment (murder). A greater hyppocrite cannot be found. I cannot find words to express my contempt for this sub-humanoid.

[w13rd0]

4. Is he gonna send them to Gitmo?

At what point do the Bushbots go, "Hey, wait a sec, that's just too much..."? Before or after they feel the heel of the boot on their neck?

[harperpine]

7. He has his own reasons to imprison as many

people as possible. The more people in prison, the less money we have to spend on education and social programs, the more minority, low-income, and immigrant people can be hidden away, the myth of the war on drugs can be maintained, the Bushpeople can feed their hunger for punishment of others, and a lot of people make a lot of money. Not just on building, servicing, and maintaining prisons, but on using prisoners for, essentially, slave labor. Boeing and Starbucks, as well as many other corporations, benefit from cheap prison labor.

By intimidating judges to give harsher sentences, Ashcroft can perpetuate the system.

There's a good article on this in the June 21, 2003, Counterpunch, titled "Throwing Away the Key—US Prisons as Strategic Hamlets," by Ron Jacobs.

www.counterpunch.org/jacobs06212003.html

[meow2u3]

20. Another reason Asscrack wants to imprison as many as possible

The more people in prison, the less money we have to spend on education and social programs, the more minority, low-income, and immigrant people can be hidden away, the myth of the war on drugs can be maintained, the Bushpeople can feed their hunger for punishment of others, and a lot of people make a lot of money. Not just on building, servicing, and maintaining prisons, but on using prisoners for, essentially, slave labor. Boeing and Starbucks, as well as many other corporations, benefit from cheap prison labor.

The Bushies want to get as many Democratic voters off the rolls as they can get away with!!!!

[SeattleDem]

27. please explain your example

"Boeing and Starbucks, as well as many other corporations, benefit from cheap prison labor."

Ummm, are prisoners making the planes? Roasting the beans? How exactly do these companies use prison labor? I'd love to know. Thanks.

[harperpine]

28. I got it

from the article I cited, so I don't know any details. Maybe you could just call them up and ask them. It would be interesting to know

I have heard elsewhere that prison labor is used for customer service, like taking catalogue orders over the phone, which makes people a little nervous since they're giving out their credit card numbers.

[MRDU]

5. Yeah right

"The Department of Justice has a solemn obligation to ensure that laws concerning criminal sentencing are faithfully, fairly and consistently enforced," Ashcroft wrote in the memo issued July 28.

[Mal]

8. That could be considered reasonable

if judges laying down heavier sentences were ALSO being reported.

[MRDU]

6. Come and get me , ASSCRACK

How's that for lenient

[JohnKleeb]

9. Ashcroft should be

:puke: on

[w13rd0]

10. I am hereby declaring a Rasta Jihad on John Ashcroft...

...I'm fashioning a voodoo doll of him out of shwag that smokes like dog hair, crisco and the fur of a gay calico cat. Once completed, my pet ferret will anally rape it on a nightly basis.

[izzie]

12. Hum, do not say who wrote this but Ashcroft has to go.

He is just plain Un-Am.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. This kind of scrutiny should be extended to prosecutors as well.

What I hope Ashcroft is looking for is descrepancies in the way judges are lenient when applying sentences to defendants of different races. Any other reason should be challenged.

[The Stranger]

14. You can't be serious.

You think Grand-Bigot Ashcroft is concerned about people of different races -- other than going to war with them, killing them, illegally imprisoning them, or converting them to Fundamentalist "Christianity"?

You can't be serious.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Maybe there is a valid reason?

Quite a bit can be surmised with the information he's compiling. It wouldn't be the first of its kind. At the police level, police must compile reports for every stop that results in a search. These reports are being required at the behest of organizations that are concerned about protecting the rights of minorities. And it's being considered for prosecutors as well.

So I wouldn't be too quick to pass judgment on this latest federal mandate because the reason may be different than the one you're assuming. Amnesty International already did an investigation on the death penalty and determined that blacks and minorities are getting stricter sentencing, so why wouldn't we want to know if there is a difference in leniency? Would you be opposed to finding out the answer?

[Robbien]

16. Because he is asking for a listing of Judge's names

He is not asking for the case files, only the names of Judges who are lenient.

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. The case must be reviewed before a Judge's name is put on the list:

"Ashcroft directed U.S. attorneys nationwide to promptly report to Justice Department headquarters when a sentence is a "downward departure" from guidelines and not part of a plea agreement in exchange for cooperation."

That means that someone has to review the case and determine that the judge's judgement was not part of a plea agreement.

On the surface, this is what I find disturbing:

(1) This is being reported on FoxNews
(2) Ted Olson's name comes up as an enforcer
(3) They specifically mentioned that the purpose is to ensure that federal sentencing is applied evenly in states such as California as well as Massachusetts. Coinky dinkally, those are Democratic states.

But I do believe that this latest effort will be jinxed by the laws of unintended consequences and will blow back in Ashcroft's face. I think it would be interesting to find out who is getting lenient sentences and who is giving them; and I wouldn't be surprised to find a Civil Rights organization somewhere down the road finding a way to make lemonade out of lemons to ensure that this kind of information becomes available. I wouldn't assume that the judges out there giving out lenient sentences are all bleeding heart liberals. I suspect there's probably more than a few bad apples who are applying lenient sentences for all the wrong reasons. Ashcroft may not realize it, but he may have opened a Pandora's Box.

[Loonman]

17. Seig Heil, Herr Ashcroft

Ridiculous.

This madman must be muzzled.

Funny how he doesn't want to go after Bush's murderous Saudi pals.

[FlaGranny]

18. Is he looking for some good judges

so he can go ahead and charge Ken Lay? Or something"

[BenFranklinUSA]

21. Worry vs. Not-Worry

Worry. Ashcroft has a sinister plan...
=OR=
Not-Worry. This is a pretty typical way to audit "outside of tradional methods"

Leaning toward "Not-Worry". But still considering...

[acropolis]

22. Even the conservatives

can't stand ashcroft anymore.

Instapundit was quoting a bunch of different righties saying that it's time for ashcroft to go.

[SharonAnn]

23. Hmm, "Torquemada" Ashcroft. just what's NOT needed!

And for a look at how it would be different under a different administration, think about how it might've been under Clinton with REno doing this.

She might have asked for a list of all judges who were handing down sentences that were too harsh and perhaps exceeded the guidelines for maximum penalty.

[grasswire]

25. well, no

Reno was considered to be tough on crime. Not as tough as Ashcroft, but definitely not liberal.