Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Sentencing Law and Policy

Criminal Law

: Sentencing Law and Policy

Racist(!?!?!) remarks by state sentencing judge leads to reversal

By Douglas A. Berman

We all know thanks to Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby that kids say the darndest things.  But today brings a new state appellate case from Wisconsin that reminds us that some sentencing judges also say the darndest things, and those darn things can sometimes demand a reversal.  Here is the story from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal: A Milwaukee man convicted of selling cocaine will get a new sentencing hearing because the judge who sentenced him referred to the man's "baby mama" and asked him where "you guys" find women to support them while they stay home, the state Court of Appeals has ruled. In a 2-1 opinion released today, the court found that then-Circuit Judge Joseph Wall, who is no longer on the bench, did not intend his comments to be offensive and did not intentionally engage in racial stereotyping...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on January 21, 2009 (boomark / email).