Legal Research

Short Sentence For Ex Newark New Jersey Mayor Seems Likely to Stand

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Crime and Justice News, August 1, 2008.

"The 27-month prison term former Newark mayor Sharpe James got this week in a fraud case was barely one-tenth what the government wanted, says the Newark Star-Ledger. While U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie vowed to appeal the sentence, the road ahead could be tough for the government. Recent Supreme Court decisions have given judges a new authority in punishing criminals: the right to craft sentences based more on individuals than formulas. 'It has become an entirely discretionary system,' said Jim Cohen, a professor at Fordham Law School. 'We now have a generation of judges who never really had to grapple with the human reality of the person in front of them. They merely had to look at a chart.' " 

"Douglas Berman, an Ohio State University law professor, said factors such as age and public service -- two areas Judge William Martini cited in punishing the 72-year-old James -- weren't typically considered when federal sentencing guidelines were mandatory. Martini didn't abandon the guidelines; he rejected the way the prosecutors tried to apply them. It's a common courtroom struggle: prosecutors eager to send a message to would-be criminals versus the judges being asked to send that message. 'Among the factors the judge is supposed to think about is general deterrence,' said Steven Feldman, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan. 'So the public perception in a criminal case is hugely important.' " 

Newark Star-Ledger

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on August 01, 2008 (boomark / email).