Blame the Judge?

Judges often make bad decisions. Especially in the system I work in where we have bench trials.  It's true and it should be talked about, more than it is. Recently an NY Police Officer was murdered by a man who had a warrant for his arrest issued in North Carolina.  There has been media outrage, mostly focused on one particular Judge who denied the DA's request for bail when the man was in her court.  But it is not right to publically blame a Judge for making a decision based on the facts in front of her.  It seems to me like a lot of people made mistakes in this case. Pointing fingers at the Judge might make the mayor feel better but it doesn't help the system and I can't see it preventing crime though I anticipate a lot more visitors to Rikers Island, which is a different sort of tragedy. This statement by the New York County Lawyer's Association is worth reading.
 

NYCLA President Stewart D. Aaron’s Statement on Comments Regarding

Brooklyn Judge Bail Decision

It is tempting, and all too easy, to engage in a round of finger

the death of NYPD Officer Peter J. Figoski. Some blame the North Carolina officials who issued

an earlier arrest warrant for the alleged shooter, Lamont Pride, but authorized his extradition

only in that state – making it impossible for a New York judge to hold him without bail or to

send him back to North Carolina. North Carolina officials blame the NYPD, saying that no one

from New York bothered to call them when Pride was arrested here on misdemeanor charges

in November. Apparently, the NYPD did not ask North Carolina to modify the warrant until

after Pride was released pending trial on the misdemeanors. Others blame Brooklyn District

Attorney Charles Hynes, whose office asked for only $2500 bail on those charges, apparently

due to the weakness of the case against Pride and the lack of any extradition request from

North Carolina.

But Mayor Bloomberg has chosen to single out the Brooklyn judge who heard the DA’s bail

application. According to the Mayor, the judge should have “picked up the phone” to

investigate the North Carolina warrant before releasing Pride on his own recognizance. In fact,

as the Mayor should know, pretrial investigation is the job of the police and the prosecutors.

Our system of justice requires judges to make bail decisions based on the facts presented in

court. The New York County Lawyers’ Association recognizes that judges are not, and should

not be, immune from public criticism. But it is wrong to use judges as easy targets, and a

disservice to mislead the public about what judges actually do.

‐pointing after a tragedy such asMedia Contact: Melissa Yahre (212‐267‐6646x210 or myahre@nycla.org)

December 15, 2011