Earlier this week, the Montana Supreme Court censured District Judge G. Todd Baugh for the controversial comments he made about the underage victim when he sentenced Stacy Dean Rambold to 30 days in jail on sexual assault charges.  Well, here's another judge who needs to be reprimanded or suspended for lenient sentencing.

Yesterday, US District Judge Susan Watters sentences a Hardin man to five years of probation of after he plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter stemming from a drunk driving accident that killed one person and injured two others.  When she passed down her sentence, Judge Watters said "I won't be so forgiving next time".

Next time?  This guy already used up his "next time".   23 year old Carl Alden, Jr. had a criminal record before he drove drunk and killed someone.  In the past, he had received tribal convictions for domestic violence and alcohol related offenses.

The prosecutor was seeking a maximum sentence of 51 months in prison.  Instead the judge chose to give the man probation.  Where is the outrage in this case?  Judge Baugh was dragged over the coals, and rightly so, for his sentence.  This case involved a loss of life, a history of run ins with the law and yet, he won't serve a day in prison.

If we really want to deter drunk driving on the reservation, it's time for our judges to start handing out tougher sentences.  Instead of saying, "I won't be so forgiving next time", don't be so forgiving THIS time.

 

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