Legal Decisions

Looking back to the Sotomajor article that was given to us in class, I decided to try to get the scoop from my dad. My dad is a magistrate for my hometown and neighboring areas. Once a week he travels to Pittsburgh for night court. So many people are brought into court in Pittsburgh that they employ judges at night to arraign criminals as they are brought in during the night. My dad sees hundreds of cases per week, so he must have some notion of guidelines for deciding cases. I wanted to find out what is expected of judges in making decisions. I asked him about this, and the response was surprising. Once a year my dad joins all the magistrates for a mandatory week in Harrisburg. During this week, the judges attend various classes that are required to address new legislation and precedents, ethics, etc. The judges all attend these classes which supplement their knowledge relevant to holding these positions. My dad told me that judges are told to remain impartial to every case. They are expected to gather the facts and make a decision based off of only the facts. The criteria of legality is clearly spelled out, and they must act accordingly. The ideal judge bases their decision without bias in response to the facts presented. However, my dad agrees with Sonia Sotomajor. He says that personal experience does play a role in legal discretion. Judging off experience is inherent of humans. Even the best judge is affected by his/her personal experience. The previous magistrate before my dad had her daughter killed by a drunk driver. As a result, the magistrate imposed the harshest fines and penalties on those convicted of alcoholic offenses. This was undoubtedly due to her personal experience. My dad went on to tell me about our local State College magistrate, Carmen Prestia. My dad met him at his latest trip to Harrisburg. I'm convinced that my dad was trying to get in his good graces should I have an encounter with the law. My dad told me that Carmen is very rigid in his legal decisions. Carmen used to be a police chief, and as a result, he has perceptions about juvenilles and crime that reflect in his decisions. My dad says that his decisions are strict and consistent because of his experiences as a police chief dealing with delinquents. Carmen doesn't let anyone off because of the volume of cases. If one person received leniency, then everyone would expect leniency. I conclude that judges personal experiences do, in fact, affect their decisions. It is an inevitable part of being human.