No, the federal government shutdown hasn't reached the School of Government -- I'm just a little slow with my post today due to some teaching and other obligations. Easily the most unusual story of the week was this one from San Diego, California: a defendant was convicted of murder and sentenced to 53 years in prison, then was married "by the same judge who had sentenced him . . . just a few minutes earlier. And he got a slice of cake to eat in the courtroom too, baked by the judge herself." Look, it's good when people who love one another get married, and even defendants who are convicted of murder should be allowed to wed. But it strikes me as a little unseemly to conduct a wedding ceremony, complete with cake, for a defendant right after he has been sentenced for a homicide, as the victim's family is being escorted out of the courtroom. There's a time and a place for everything. In other news: 1. "Judicial executioners." Speaking of judges and their jobs, federal district judge Richard Kopf writes here on his blog that federal trial judges are "judicial executioner[s] . . . who consciously do[] great harm to other human beings by faithfully executing the extraordinarily harsh national criminal laws." That may be a bit of hyperbole, but one of Kopf's points is that judges bear a heavy burden when sentencing people -- even clearly guilty people -- to long prison terms. I think he's right about that. Certainly, [...]
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