Attorney General Angers Judges, Setting Up Federal Sentencing Skirmish

[Judi Lynn]

Tuesday, September 30

Attorney General Angers Judges, Setting Up Federal Sentencing Skirmish
By Gina Holland Associated Press Writer
Published: Sep 30, 2003

WASHINGTON (AP) - A debate over appropriate punishments for federal crimes and how cases should be pursued by prosecutors has made unlikely foes of conservative judges and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
When similar cases are handled differently a drug peddler in San Diego might get 12 months in jail while one in Texas is sent away for six years. Ashcroft says he wants more uniformity, but judges say his ideas for achieving that will harm a system already struggling with more cases than it can handle.

It's turning into a particularly contentious chapter in the long-running dispute over sentencing.

Last week, federal judges urged repeal of a law that was sought by Ashcroft earlier this year making it more difficult for them to impose lighter sentences than specified in guidelines approved by Congress more than 15 years ago.

The Judicial Conference of the United States, headed by conservative Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, voted unanimously to support overturning the law, which also requires reports to Congress on any judge who departs from the sentencing guidelines. Rehnquist had complained about the law when it was passed. (snip/...)

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAX2NRM7LD.html

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Kick

*

[ixion]

2. AshKKKroft is making friends fast... NOT

I'm really happy to hear there are conservatives out there who still remember that this country was not founded as a fundamentalist police state.

[DBoon]

3. Eliminating the independent judiciary

is one thing dictators do right away, about the same time they dissolve the elected assembly.

[MO_Dem]

4. Ashcroft is a busybody

While on vacation a couple weeks ago, we picked up a copy of Navajo Times, and there is an article on the front page about a case where the U.S. attorney did not want to seek the death penalty, but "John Ashcroft stepped in and ordered them to seek the death penalty...."