Seems like a sensible process. In either case, of appointed judges or elected ones, there has to be a system of revue to overcome miscarriages of justice or total incompetence.
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One other thing, and totally off topic, but if you live in Oz, you might know of this museum called the Museum of Old and New Art on Tasmania. Hobart, I think. I had a artist friend just return from a visit there, and he reported that it is the most amazing collection of architecture and art and general craziness that he has ever seen. The backstory on the creator/collector is just as amazing.
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“I have observed how the recall effort has changed judges, whether consciously or not, making them more timid about taking risks on defendants who deserve mercy.”
No, this guy let a rich kid rapist back on the street with no consistence. That sets a far worse precedent.
Remember his dads comment? "Dan A. Turner wrote in a letter arguing that his son should receive probation, not jail time. “That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.”
Yeah, he should be retried for the rape that he committed, by a judge who is not biased to rich privileged white defendants.
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First, sorry if this posts weird and looks like a response to anyone in particular. Its not. My phone is being weird and I’m a noob. I voted in this election and had a very strong reason that I haven’t seen represented most discussions about the recall so I wanted to post.
I voted for the recall. I am an attorney. I don’t necessarily agree in principle with the recall (or election of judges generally) and clearly the sentence was within his judicial discretion. I voted yes because we all know that judges are affected by their personal bias. There are countless programs for attorneys and judges to get us to acknowledge and address our unconscious bias. Here was a clear example (in my opinion) of a judge being swayed by his unconscious personal bias. Yet when he was criticized for the lenient sentence, did he reflect and admit that just possibly, maybke he was influenced by bias? No. He doubled down and posted billboards by my home opposing the recall efforts. Judges don’t have to be perfect but when they can’t admit to their human failings they cannot serve justice.
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it may be that things work out differently than i imagine but generally when judges are voted out of office, here in texas where i live for example, because of what is seen by the electorate as excessive leniency, even when it has been over one particular case, the rest of the judges draw the lesson–leniency bad, punishment better, maximum john best. recalls rarely work as a tool of finesse and are more typically blunt instruments. but maybe this time will be different, it bears watching.
bad use of the recall which seems to have been applied against 3 other Democrats to protest the gas tax increase. courts should be free of political pressure.
Let’s not forget that journalists (like Rachel Marshall) LOVE to write sensationalist stuff.
Rachel Marshall, the author of the article at Vox, is a public defense attorney, not a journalist.
“Rachel Marshall is a public defender in Oakland, California, where she handles felony cases. She graduated from Brown University and Stanford Law School.”
If you’re going to attack someone based on their career and credentials, it’s helpful to check their credentials.
That said, defense attorneys are some of the most sensationalistic in the industry.
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Here also, Persky initially faced a judicial commission. It cleared him of any bias. The report didn’t change anyone’s mind.
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It’s almost as if we expect judges to (wait for it) judge each scenario and make a just and ethical decision on how much a perpetrator should be punished while taking in the severity of their crime and other factors. If judges get too lenient or too harsh as a reaction to the fear of getting recalled, then they aren’t the right person for the job. A good judge will make the right decision even if it costs them their job. But Persky made the wrong decision and it, fortunately, did cost him his job.
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@coginthewheel state exactly the problem. The vote was to recall someone who made an egregiously bad decision as part of a pattern of similar decisions and could not admit that yes, he could have a problem. If at any time Persky had said even, “I can see from the actual evidence of my sentencings in similar situations that I may have an unconscious bias that I will need to take into account,” then it might be arguable that he didn’t need to be removed. But a judge who is prejudiced will not dispense justice; he’ll do what he likes and say it was justice. This isn’t an acceptable option.
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Yes, as a resident of Santa Clara county, I voted to recall this jerk of a judge. I only wish we could have imposed penalties on top of this recall.
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“In my work as a public defender in Oakland, California, I have observed how the recall effort has changed judges, whether consciously or not, making them more timid about taking risks on defendants who deserve mercy.”
I wouldn’t worry too much, I’m sure he won’t be too lenient when it comes to real criminals.
I worked on traffic signal and air traffic control software in the lead up to 2000, and you are totally wrong about that. Our operating systems dated back to 1975. A lot of our application software dated back to 1984. During the 1990s the vehicle registration system in my state repeatedly hit Y2K related bugs, because it had to model scenarios into the future.
The software environment goes a long way beyond business software, and even software written today frequently contains assumptions which would break at the next century boundary.
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Is this judicial commission populated by old, white men? Might be time to recall a few more judges.
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Y2k is like the tech equivalent of anti-vaxxing
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Yeah it wasn’t businesses that would have been in serious trouble without patching, but governments. Software in bureaucracy tends to be very old and very badly made
You don’t excuse wrongdoing to protect against a future that is basically the same as the present. The whole idea hinges on Persky being lenient universally which he wasn’t. He specifically was lenient in the favor of male athletes.
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Here’s a different commonwealth nation, but still with appointed judges
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You know what, you’re right. I am certain that rich white male athletes will be the ones who primarily bear the consequences of this outcome.
“I am wondering, does anyone here actually know he facts of the case?”
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