Sunday, December 05, 2004
Our esteemed and missing Doomed0 gets printed
Legislature should impeach liberal judges
(Original publication: December 2, 2004)
Regarding a Nov. 29 article, "Appeals ruling casts shadow on murder convictions:"
While I am outraged by the moral depravity of the Court of Appeals' decision in People vs. Payne, I am far from surprised. The court has shown itself willing to create procedural advantages for criminal defendants at the expense of the peace and safety of New Yorkers. Many of these decisions defy logic.
In a 1998 decision, Hynes vs. Tomei, the court reversed a Brooklyn death-penalty conviction, and subsequently several others, on the grounds that allowing a defendant to plead guilty and receive a no-parole life sentence, avoiding the death penalty, could coerce an innocent defendant to plead guilty to save his life, violating his constitutional right to a trial. However, the court somehow applied this to cases in which the defendant did not plead guilty and did receive a fair trial. Last June, in People vs. LaValle, the court effectively declared a moratorium on the state's death penalty, which was created by our legislators.
Liberal judges in New York, including Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo's appointees — three of the four justices in the LaValle majority — have been coddling criminals for decades. I urge the Legislature to begin impeachment proceedings against these justices.
Meanwhile, I implore the four U.S. attorney's offices that cover New York to bring criminal charges in all cases where federal law is applicable. This would send a message by bypassing New York's criminal-justice system, which all too often is decided by judges predisposed to imposing their visions of moral superiority.
Jonathan M. Walder, Pelham Manor
(Original publication: December 2, 2004)
Regarding a Nov. 29 article, "Appeals ruling casts shadow on murder convictions:"
While I am outraged by the moral depravity of the Court of Appeals' decision in People vs. Payne, I am far from surprised. The court has shown itself willing to create procedural advantages for criminal defendants at the expense of the peace and safety of New Yorkers. Many of these decisions defy logic.
In a 1998 decision, Hynes vs. Tomei, the court reversed a Brooklyn death-penalty conviction, and subsequently several others, on the grounds that allowing a defendant to plead guilty and receive a no-parole life sentence, avoiding the death penalty, could coerce an innocent defendant to plead guilty to save his life, violating his constitutional right to a trial. However, the court somehow applied this to cases in which the defendant did not plead guilty and did receive a fair trial. Last June, in People vs. LaValle, the court effectively declared a moratorium on the state's death penalty, which was created by our legislators.
Liberal judges in New York, including Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo's appointees — three of the four justices in the LaValle majority — have been coddling criminals for decades. I urge the Legislature to begin impeachment proceedings against these justices.
Meanwhile, I implore the four U.S. attorney's offices that cover New York to bring criminal charges in all cases where federal law is applicable. This would send a message by bypassing New York's criminal-justice system, which all too often is decided by judges predisposed to imposing their visions of moral superiority.
Jonathan M. Walder, Pelham Manor
