Defiant judge takes on child pornography law
Defiant judge takes on child pornography law
New York Times, A. G. Sulzberger, 5.21.2010
“In his 43-year career as a federal judge, Jack B. Weinstein has come to be identified by his efforts to combat what he calls ‘the unnecessary cruelty of the law.’ His most recent crusade is particularly striking because of the beneficiary: a man who has amassed a vast collection of child pornography . . . There is little public sympathy for collectors of child pornography. Yet across the country, an increasing number of federal judges have come to their defense, criticizing changes to sentencing laws that have effectively quadrupled their average prison term over the last decade . . . ‘What has caused concern in courts across the nation is that we have a lot of relatively law-abiding individuals sitting in the basement downloading the wrong kind of dirty pictures facing not just prison sentences but incredibly long prison sentences,’ said Douglas A. Berman, a professor at Moritz College of Law of Ohio State University, who studies sentencing issues.”
The Second Circuit case referenced in the article:
USA v. Dorvee, No. 09-0648-cr (2nd Cir. May 11, 2010)(Cabranes and B.D. Parker, Circuit Judges, and Underhill, District Judge.*)
“Justin K. Dorvee pled guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography in violation 3 of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A). He was sentenced by the United States District Court for the 4 Northern District of New York (McAvoy, J.) to the statutory maximum of 240 months, less 194 days for time served for a related state sentence. He challenges both the procedural and substantive reasonableness of his sentence. Our review of the record indicates that the district court may have improperly calculated Dorvee’s Guidelines range which, we conclude, constitutes procedural error. We also conclude that the sentence imposed on Dorvee is substantively unreasonable. We therefore vacate the judgment and remand to the district court for resentencing . . . Dr. Isele attributed 4 Dorvee’s social isolation largely to anxiety stemming from his sexuality— Dorvee is homosexual . . . the court concluded that Dorvee was a ‘pedophile’ who, if ‘given the opportunity . . . would have sexual relations . . . with a younger boy, ages 6 to 15.’”
COMMENTS
