We Need More Federal Judges Like the Honorable Judge Paul Magnuson

[mach1]

Judge Quits Case Over Federal Sentencing GuidelinePosted by FoM on January 22, 2001 at 07:45:51 PT
Statewire
Source: Star-Tribune

A federal judge critical of mandatory drug-sentencing laws removed himself from a criminal case rather than sentence a first-time drug offender to 10 years in prison.

Chief U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson of St. Paul refused to comply with an order from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to give Shellie Langmade more prison time.

" Langmade will be sacrificed on the altar of Congress' obsession with punishing crimes involving narcotics, " Magnuson wrote Thursday in the order taking himself off the case.

" I am so embittered by the government' s merciless conduct that I simply could not be impartial upon resentencing."

Magnuson' s decision was uncommon but not unheard of, according to University of Minnesota law professor Barry Feld. Feld said the case is part of a national debate over mandatory sentences in state and federal nonviolent drug offenses.

" The federal sentencing guidelines and drug policies are really irresponsible and unjust, and there are a few courageous judges out there who have been willing to say so, " he said.

President Clinton has said the mandatory sentences should be reconsidered, and on Wednesday New York Gov. George Pataki proposed shorter prison terms for nonviolent drug offenders in that state.

Defenders of the sentencing guidelines point to decreasing crime rates and the deterrent effect of harsh punishment.

A spokeswoman for B. Todd Jones, outgoing U.S. attorney for Minnesota, would not comment about Magnuson' s order or Langmade' s case. Magnuson also would not comment on the case.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank.

In 1999, Langmade, 38, and five others were charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. She pleaded guilty under an agreement with the U.S. attorney' s office that set a sentencing range of five years and 10 months to seven years and two months.

But the deal fell apart when a pre-sentence investigation showed that Langmade was convicted in Anoka County on two misdemeanor counts of passing bad checks in 1993 -- one for $45 and another for $38.50. She got a year of probation for each check.

If Langmade' s probation had been just a day shorter, she would be eligible for a sentencing " safety valve" that allows some defendants to get less than the minimum sentence mandated by Congress.

Magnuson sentenced Langmade according to the plea agreement anyway, reflecting his feeling that the facts of Langmade' s case made " 10 years' imprisonment ... unconscionable and patently unjust."

Prosecutors appealed the sentence.

Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)
Published: Monday, January 22, 2001
Address: 425 Portland Ave., Minneapolis MN 55488
Copyright: 2001 Star Tribune
Fax: 612-673-4359
Contact: opinion@startribune.com
Website: http://www.startribune.com/
Forum: http://talk.startribune.com/cgi-bin/WebX.cgi
Feedback: http://www.startribune.com/stonline/html/userguide/letform.html

Related Articles & Web Site:

Families Against Mandatory Minimums
http://www.famm.org/

Clinton Urges Extension Of Civil Rights Policies
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8323.shtml Clinton: Pot Smoking Should Not Be Prison Offense
http://cannabisnews.com/news/7/thread7920.shtml

Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help

[John B. Webster]

There are many such as US District Court Judge Wolf, Whitman Knapp, Morris Lasker, Harold Greene, John Elfin, Stanley Sporkin, Harry T. Edwards, Donald P. Lay, Myron Bright,John L. Kane Jr. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer,Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Graham Mullen, Carl Horn III, Judge John S. Martin Jr. Robert W. Pratt, Chief Judge Juan R. Torruella, Judge Volney V. Brown Jr., Nancy Gertner. I am sure I overlooked many more but there are many judges and fortunately the list is growing. Not fast enough for me ...but growing

By the way there is a new website dedicated to judges against Mandatory Sentencing.
www.judgesagainstthedrugwar.org.

[David]

I really applaud the stance that this U.S. District Court judge and others have taken. There are many others that agree with the sentencing guidelines, OR upward depart wherever they can.

[John B. Webster]

So true and when judges get frustrated with the USSG straightjacket and resign they are replaced with Judges that will in fact apply the most draconian minimum and mandatory sentencing strictures---regardless of the facts

[sbrown110]

It is good to see a Judge stand up against the mandatory minimums. I was hoping I would be assigned to this Judge because I had heard he is the most compassionate here in Minneapolis. But, it is not to be that way. My Judge has been assigned, and she spent 11 years as a Federal Prosecutor (YUCK) prior to sitting on the bench.

Sheryl