A Judicial Witch Hunt

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Voor de goede verstaander: 'sentencing guidelines' refereert (simpel geredeneerd) aan een staffel voor berechting van misdrijven.
De eerste staffel (zie het laatste deel van mijn bericht 'Recht of toch maar krom?'
http://listserv.surfnet.nl/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0304&L=d66&P=R1194) werd in vier weken tijd uitgedacht en tot wet gemaakt zonder enig
overleg met gevangeniswezen, justitie en rechterlijke macht (dus niet gehinderd door enige feitenkennis).

Mijn mail 'Alle rechters aan de kant?' http://listserv.surfnet.nl/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0304&L=d66&P=R1355
ging over de aanloop naar de laatste wijziging van 'de staffel', de wet waar die 'aangehangen is' is aangenomen en recent door Bush getekend.

Deze mail gaat dus over de eerste federale rechter die door het Congress 'aan de kant' zal worden gezet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/30/opinion/30WED3.html
April 30, 2003
A Judicial Witch Hunt

James Rosenbaum is the chief judge of the United States District Court in Minnesota. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by a
Republican-controlled Senate in 1985, Judge Rosenbaum is hardly an obvious target for conservatives seeking to reshape the federal bench. Yet
he is now facing a Kafkaesque witch hunt, with Congress making dangerously improper demands for his files and notes because he has objected
to federal sentencing policies that restrict a judge's discretion. The attack on Judge Rosenbaum is not only a sign of the right's continuing attempt
to hijack the federal judiciary but also trespasses on the constitutional separation of powers. It must stop.

The saga began a year ago when Judge Rosenbaum appeared before a House Judiciary subcommittee to support changes in federal sentencing
policies. The changes, unanimously adopted by the United States Sentencing Commission, authorized shorter prison terms for first-time drug
defendants deemed "minor" participants. Judge Rosenbaum would have been better off staying home.

Using examples from his own experience, Judge Rosenbaum said he opposed a Republican bill that would have blocked revision of the
guidelines. His remarks, while not devoid of hyperbole, echoed criticism voiced by Supreme Court justices, prosecutors and defense attorneys.
He did not mislead anyone, or disguise that he had used his discretion in a few drug cases to impose lighter sentences.

Thus began an all-out attack against Judge Rosenbaum in which he is accused of "misstating" facts and meting out "illegal" sentences. The
subcommittee has begun a barrage of inquiries into his sentencing decisions in drug cases and the role of his law clerks, even though the proper
oversight role of Congress does not extend to investigating sitting judges because of their decisions or policy views.

Congress ignored Chief Justice William Rehnquist when he urged it to resist tagging hastily devised revisions of the federal sentencing
guidelines onto the recently approved Amber Alert bill. But that should not deter Justice Rehnquist, a devoted champion of judicial
independence, from speaking out against an irrational attack against a respected jurist, and the judiciary as a whole.

Groet,

Cees Binkhorst - cees at binkhorst.xs4all.nl

Thucides (on Secr. Powel's desk): "Of all the manifestations of power, restraint impresses men the most."

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