Politicians, pundits, and people who blindly follow them often blame judges for ugly crime statistics.
Here’s an example. I live just outside of Springfield, Massachusetts. The city has been in continuous decline for decades due to inept government officials and their voters. Yet whenever the city has its 20th or 30th murder of the year, the mayor rants to the media about local judges who fail to keep criminals behind bars–as if judges are supposed to single-handedly rectify well-entrenched systemic problems.
To be clear, I’m no apologist for judges. But I can’t stand the simplistic thinking that leads people to blame judges for crime.
Defendants who commit violent crimes are locked up. That’s evident to anyone who’s familiar with the criminal court process in Massachusetts.
However, there are times when a defendant is charged with a crime or with multiple crimes and he walks away scot free.
When that happens, it’s usually for one of two reasons.
Reason 1: the police have over charged the defendant. Some cops make mounts out of molehills.
If a woman knocks her boyfriends hat off during a heated argument, is that assault and battery? Technically, yes it is. But if she charged with A&B (which actually happened to a recent client of mine) you can almost guarantee that the case will get dismissed.
Similarly, if police frisk a suspect and find a straw with powdery reside on it, is that enough to charge him with drug possession? Again, the answer is yes. But again, the case is going to be brushed aside by the busy court system.
An incredible number of frivolous cases like these are routinely disposed of by the court without the defendant going to jail.
But anyone who looked at the cases in a purely statistically way would see alleged criminals getting left off the hook without any form of punishment.
Reason 2: people fail to understand that the vast majority of victims are themselves career criminals.
It’s rare to see a wholly innocent person victimized. Instead, the victim in an assault and battery case is often himself a violent person with a lengthy criminal record. The victim of a larceny or home invasion is frequently affiliated with the defendant through some other criminal venture.
Consequently, victims regularly refuse to participate with the prosecution. They refuse to testify or even to appear at court after being summoned. This, almost invariable, results in the defendant’s case getting dismissed.
Ironically, there are times when “tough judges” unwittingly contribute to a defendant dodging punishment.
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, most defendants want to wrap up their case with a plea deal. These deals are usually far more lenient than any punishment that would be imposed if the defendant lost at trial.
Occasionally tough judges refuse to accept plea deals that they view as too cushy. This usually forces the case to trial. If prosecutors fail to get victims, witnesses, and all mandatory discovery ready by the trial date, the case may simply be dismissed.
For instance, I once had a defendant charged with drug possession. The prosecutor offered the following plea deal: plead guilty, get one year probate and submit to random drug screens. My client was willing to accept the deal. The recommendation would have been good for the defendant and good for the community. But the “tough judge” who heard the plea rejected it. She instead proposed a six month jail sentence for my client. We withdrew the plea and demanded trial. Shortly after the hearing the prosecutor told me that she couldn’t get the drug lab certification for the items seized from my client. Therefore, the case was simply dismissed and my client walked away with no conditions or probation. Thank you, judge.