Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Underdog

Criminal Law

: Underdog

Why do any judges wonder whether they have authority to rule a statute unconstitutional?

By Marks & Katz, LLC

Over a year ago, I argued to a Virginia District Court judge that a statutory sentencing provision was unconstitutional. He thought about it, and then said that he had concluded that my Constitutional argument had to be argued in the Circuit Court through a de novo appeal. In Virginia and Maryland, the District Court sentence provides no cap on the sentence in Circuit Court if the de novo appeal results in a conviction, which can make the stakes high sometimes to proceed with such an appeal.  I have heard some prosecutors in Maryland also argue in court that the District Court judge has no authority to decide whether a law is unconstitutional. In those instances, the judge denied my objection without saying whether they thought they had no such jurisdiction...continue to full post

Full post as published by Underdog on August 26, 2009 (boomark / email).