"A Judge’s Education, a Sentence at a Time"

The title of this post is the headline of this lengthy new article from the New York Times discussing part of former District Judge (and now Circuit Judge) Denny Chin's sentencing record. Judge Chin is best known, of course, for sentencing Bernie Madoff to the max, and this article is a must-read in part because it does not discuss the Madoff sentencing much at all.  Here are just a few small excerpts from a nice piece that provides a number of interesting federal sentencing anecdotes:

Judge Chin, 57, who last year was elevated by President Obama to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, after nearly 16 years on the trial bench, is best known for the 150-year sentence he gave Bernard L. Madoff, arguably the most prominent white-collar sentence in the history of American law....

But it has been largely anonymous defendants ... whose cases have influenced his thinking about how to balance punishment and rehabilitation, deterrence and compassion.  “There’s no doubt that all of these cases shaped me,” Judge Chin said, “and shaped the way I think, and the way I respond to things.”

He took the bench in 1994 at age 40 with little experience in criminal law.  He has since sentenced more than 1,100 defendants, including at least a dozen who received sentences of life or the equivalent, according to court statistics.  He quickly learned, he said, that preparation was crucial and that he must not agonize over his decisions.  One seasoned judge had advised: “Rule and roll.”  Be decisive.  Don’t second-guess yourself.

In a series of interviews conducted in person and through e-mail over the past year, Judge Chin discussed his most challenging sentencing decisions, cases that became essential parts of his education as a judge.  The interviews were unusual; judges rarely agree to discuss cases, even closed ones, like these, outside court.  The exchanges provided a revealing look at how one judge approached the task of sentencing, which he called “the hardest thing” about being on the bench.

“It is just not a natural or everyday thing to do,” Judge Chin explained, “to pass judgment on people, to send them to prison or not.   I mean, there is so much at stake,” he added, “and there are so many different considerations that come into play.”...

Like most judges, Judge Chin faced defendants who promised to reform their ways.  Some fulfilled that pledge; others let him down.  He tried not to become jaded or cynical, he said, and retained hope that people who had made mistakes could turn their lives around.

“A good judge has to care,” he said.  “He has to want to make the world better.”  He also believed that rehabilitation, along with punishment, deterrence and healing victims, was a legitimate goal of sentencing.  As he put it, “I don’t like to give up on people.”