From Deseret News archives:
Former federal judge is striving for balance
He still questions laws as a teacher, advocate
Paul G. Cassell was 42 when he was appointed to the bench, but 5 1/2 years later the former federal prosecutor and University of Utah law professor announced he would return to teaching and take up a new career in legal advocacy.
"One of the things I've found out is that now nobody stands up when I enter a room," he joked.
Sitting in his temporary office at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, Cassell told the Deseret Morning News that, as a federal judge, he felt there were several areas in federal law that were out of balance, particularly in the areas of minimum-mandatory sentencing and prosecution of some illegal immigrants. He saw some aspects of federal law caught in a vortex of political competitiveness for tougher sentences pushed by members of Congress.
While it is constitutional for Congress to impose mandatory sentences, "is it wise for them to impose these draconian mandatory minimum sentences? I guess that's where I would urge Congress to introduce some more flexibility," Cassell said.
Cassell said, in his mind, it takes political courage to step up and say the punishment does not fit the crime.
In what he calls one of the most difficult cases he handled in his judicial career, Cassell said he felt he had to speak out on a mandatory sentence that he was compelled to mete out against young drug dealer Weldon Angelos.
Due to a minimum mandatory sentence imposed by Congress against drug dealers who carry firearms, Angelos was sentenced to a mandatory 55 years in federal prison on his first-ever drug conviction for dealing marijuana.
Cassell wrote a lengthy legal opinion on Angelos' sentence, which he sent to Congress and the president. That opinion earned him nationwide praise from legal scholars.
Recent comments
Our judicial system is out of control. It's nice to see someone...
D.C.D. | Dec. 8, 2007 at 8:33 a.m.
I agree with Prof. Cassell especially in regards to the ID Theft law...
Butkus | Nov. 25, 2007 at 3:34 p.m.
What a remarkably wise man! I wish Cassell every success in his new...
Lowell | Nov. 23, 2007 at 11:32 a.m.
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