Judicious judicial views from US District Judge Polster when handing down Amish beard-cutting sentences

February 19, 2013

As regular readers know, the recent federal sentencing proceedings surrounding Amish defendants convicted for hate crimes generated considerable debate and commentary in this space. I was pleased to learn that, among those following some of the blog discussion, was ND Ohio US Attorney Steven Dettelbach. I know this because USA Dettelbach late last week forwarded me a copy of parts of the sentencing transcript from the proceedings before US District Judge Dan Polster for posting. USA Dettelbach also sent along these comments in response to this earlier guest-post about the sentencing (which I have modified slightly for clarity while preserving the substance and which I have received permission to post along with the sentencing transcript):

“The guest post failed to include any mention whatsoever of the comments that the sentencing Judge made. It is possible that the guest columnist missed that portion of the sentencing, but some mention or discussion of the sentencing Judge’s reasons and rulings would have been important in any fair analysis — much less a critique — of a sentence handed down by that Judge. Indeed, such comments might also be pertinent in fairly analyzing the actions of the government in a case before that Judge as well. In fact, the exercise of such discretion, and the reasons provided, would be particularly pertinent to those who espouse the opinion that judges should be afforded discretion in sentencing cases that they hear as neutrals.”

Download Amish sentencing transcript EXCERPT