Resignation Over Sentencing Law

In the story about the resignation of U.S. District Judge J. Lawrence Irving (Part A, Sept. 27) the reason Irving gave for his resignation was his dissatisfaction with the federal sentencing guidelines that restricted his authority.

The new federal sentencing requirements were made into law in 1987. The law was designed to provide set standards for sentencing based on a point system. The gist of it is, it leaves judges little or no discretion in deciding on a sentence.

The law was written and passed by our federal government for a reason. The reason could only be what seems logical, to prevent abuses by judges in sentencing criminals. The abuses were present on both ends of the spectrum. Some judges were unduly harsh with certain offenders, that is, sentences for the same or similar crimes could differ greatly depending on a variety of factors from the defendant’s past history, to the judge’s mood that day, to where the trial was held.

The abuse at the other end of the spectrum is what brought up my bile. Some defendants received sentences that were far too lenient in relation to the crimes committed, again because of past history and often because the judges identified too closely with the criminals before them.

I read with astonishment the paragraph where Irving commented on the Richard Silberman case. He said he would have liked to impose a lesser sentence on Silberman, taking into account his past contributions to the community. What?

This is the same garbage we are hearing about Michael Milkin.

Sure, these people made contributions to the community, all with other people’s money; people who could ill afford the excessive community spirit of these false philanthropists they trusted with their life’s savings.

My last point would be that I think Irving is irked because of an age-old conflict, that is, who shall have the power. Judges wield enormous power in their world and I have never understood why. By creating these sentencing guidelines, a significant amount of power was pried from the judge’s grasp.

GEOFFREY L. PAGE

San Diego