Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Judge Winkler Has a Heart of Decorated Gold!

This blog is usually dedicated to the criminal acts of “Criminal“ criminal attorney, excuse me civil-less attorney (AKA Hamilton County part-time Prosecutor) Joe Deters. Still, every now and then I will post a blog about a person that appears to exist in Demigod Joe Deters own image. Today that person is-- Ran unopposed, Republican Judge Ralph “Ted” Winkler. Judge Winkler is known by many people as the Judge who is tough on crime. Especially tough on crime as it pertains to people of color, and people who aren’t wealthy and well-connected. Today in the Enquirer there is a story about a fire fighter who drove drunk and killed one person, and injured another. He was sentenced to 4 years. However, after serving only 2 years and 1 month, he is a free man. A free man that has never apologized to the heart broken mother of the woman he killed. Questions: Is 2 years and 1 month enough time for vehicular homicide? Is 4 years? If you give special consideration (apparently he’s a decorated firefighter) to one convicted drunk driver, should you give special consideration to all convicted drunk drivers? After all everybody has a back story, right? Judge Winkler stated, “It’s one of the few cases that I have … actually lost sleep over.” Really Judge? You might be able to catch up on some sleep when you take your place in the hottest part of hell, next to Joe Deters. Finally no law can be considered just, unless it is equally applied to all citizens regardless of race, class, or economic standing. No justice. No peace. Read the story. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090106/NEWS0107/301060054

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this guy got off due to something called "shock parole" which is given to people without a criminal record who have made one major mistake in their lives. Now, the disparity in application is that poor people or minorities often lead much more difficult lives, take greater risks because they have less to lose, and come from stressful environments that lower people's inhibitions to violate social norms and laws - and so they do. This isn't necessarily a reflection of their moral character. So, blacks and the poor have fewer opportunities to apply the "shock parole" to them because they are bound to have more contacts with the court system before a major offense. It's not fair, it's not right and it's not equal treatment to fail to consider the so called "mitigating circumstances" that promote anti social behavior from this sector of the population.

CAJD said...

Thank you for your sensible comment. I have to think out loud on this blog, and comments like yours help me do just that.

Yep...and it's not fair. My desire for the New Year is that more people make better choices.

And steam rollin' ahead I'm going to keep fighting to end racial disparites in CJS.