Letter to the Editor: Trump's Meddling Is Wrong, but so Are Overlong Sentences

I signed the letter as a former DOJ person protesting against President Donald Trump’s brazen attempt to take over the DOJ. But I don’t think that letter went far enough.

What is lost in the justified hysteria over President Trump’s decision to interfere in the Roger Stone case and his bald-faced attempt to take over the Department of Justice is the fact that our federal criminal justice system is broken. In my view, the actual sentence given to Roger Stone—40 months—seems fair and reasonable; the original government request of seven to nine years seemed harsh. How the government justified its sentencing recommendation to try to make it comport with the rule of law was fascinating. The new prosecutors in that case urged the judge to take into consideration Stone’s age, health, his nonviolent conduct, who the victim was and whether certain enhancements overlap with the offense conduct. All these factors can legitimately be brought to bear as part of a sentencing process, but in my 15 years as a defense attorney, I have rarely seen it done, especially in the current administration. As a practical matter, there is little room for a line prosecutor to look at these individualized factors in any given case.