National Judicial College — Judges — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Judges

Defendants are regularly condemned to years, decades, or life in prison for minor infractions because of minimum sentencing statutes. If judges had more discretion in sentencing, then sentences could be more proportional to the crime, more specific to the individual defendant, and minimize the negative impact of minimum sentencing laws without inherently needing those laws repealed.

Judicial Discretion: Ten Guidelines for Its Use

"Judicial discretion is necessary to the proper discharge of our Constitutional obligations as a separate – and independent – branch of government. Legislatures simply cannot write laws to address all situations which find their way into court or that develop as a case makes its way through the legal system. Judges are present during proceedings and hear the evidence firsthand. From this vantage point a judge must have some discretion to apply the law to the facts and procedure of the pending dispute."

The National Judicial College

May 21, 2015

JudgesAnthony BradleyJuly 27, 2018Oversight, Constitution, National Judicial College

Judges

Galsworthy CJR Program

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