> Judges also apply the law differently. If you are > victimizing school areas in Minnetonka or Linden > Hills you will be treated far differently than you > will in the school zones along Franklin Avenue. > Hennepin County Judges routinely let the drug > dealers arrested on Franklin and the North side go > with a slap on the hand, as if victimizing our > children and neighborhoods is somehow less of a > crime. Some say it is because they are caught in a > Drug Reserve Area, the judges practice "Catch and > Release". Yes, I believe a little FEDERAL MEDIATION
> is in order. That brings up a question. There are Judges on the ballot this year - does anyone know anything about them? Everyone talks about all the legislators, but in a lot of ways, how a judge interprets the laws and applies judgement is at least as significant as what the letter of the law is in the first place. Personally, regarding dealing, I'd like to see a Judge who: * Is creative when sentencing first-time and/or non-predatory offenders by avoiding jailtime in lieu of programs that might actually get the person's life on track. * Is tough as nails when it comes to sentencing predatory, gang-related, or "unredeemable" offenders. Yes, I realize they don't have complete flexibility, but reading that article about the sentance that that SOB that beat up the kid after last year's KKK rally made me think. That guy was someone who I would have considered too low to feed to dogs, but it seems like the sentance is actually having an impact (I lost the link to the article if someone has it). It seems like having Judges with wisdom, compassion, and sense could make a real difference, especially for neighborhoods currently struggling with high crime rates. They could help out those who are starting down a bad path and they could getting those who have committed to that path off the street. (And that's just one of many places where the nature of the Judge makes a huge difference) So many of our judicial elections are unopposed, but what about those who aren't? Does anyone have anything to say about them? - Jason Goray, Sheridan, NE __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Y! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your web site http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
