Should Letters of Support, like those appearing in the Libby Case, be allowed?

[bryant69]

If you think the should be part of the legal proceedings, what purpose do you feel they serve?

Or should judges just return them to sender unopened?

I'm not a lawyer, and I confess to some bafflement as the value of said letters in the first place. They don't add any new facts (if they did they should be part of the trial). I guess I think they shouldn't, but I'm willing to be persuaded that they should be.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Swamp Rat]

1. I'd treat it as evidence linking the authors to the criminal and his crimes.

Then throw RICO at them.

[bryant69]

4. Ah - guilt by association writ large. Nice. n/t

[Patsy Stone]

6. A collection of the some of scariest creatures on the Earth.

:hi:

[SteppingRazor]

10. Really? I mean, have you looked through all the letters?

They include the literary editor of the New Republic, James Carville, other people who self-identify as "liberal Democrats," and other friends and neighbors of Libby's family who have nothing to do with this administration.

That said, there are also letters from Paul Wolfowtiz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and similar cronies, so you do have something of a point!

[Patsy Stone]

14. I was talking to Swamp Rat

About the graphic he posted.

[SteppingRazor]

15. Oh! Er... um.... nevermind!

:blush:

[Swamp Rat]

18. I think you were trying to reply to another post, right?

Why deny physical evidence of PNACers?

Seems pretty goddamn weird to me.

[SteppingRazor]

19. No, I just thought that Patsy Stone's response to your post...

was addressing the letter writers in general, not the specific people highlighted in your illustration

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

2. Absolutely. Sentencing Should Not Be Done In A Bubble.

Of course one's history, value and positive attributes should be taken into consideration. Judges should always weigh all available factors, circumstances and characteristics when using their discretion toward sentencing.

[Patsy Stone]

3. You're basing that opinion on these particular letters.

In some cases, the letters contain actual meritorious facts which may sway a judge's opinion regarding sentencing. These pro-Scooter missives are just a bunch of hooey, which is why you're confused.

[bryant69]

7. Ah. So letters in support of somone you like have a purpose?

Is that what you are saying?

Bryant

[Patsy Stone]

12. No, my dear.

Letters which indicate that a person (regardless of my opinion of them) has actually done something which may cause a judge to look on them favorably regarding sentencing (saving a person from a burning building, diving over someone to take a bullet, etc.), which may not have come out in trial are worth something. Letters telling the judge that he's a nice guy with a good education who played softball with my kid, or adopted my puppy don't quite carry the same weight.

But thanks for trying to bait me. Scooter, is that you?

[SteppingRazor]

5. They're certainly a very common occurence, especially with first-time offenders...

my own thought is that they don't harm anything, and I would rather people be allowed to send such letters than have free speech curtailed. There doesn't seem to be a good reason to chip away at the First Amendment here, however small the chip may be.

Of course, the judge could do just as you suggested and send the letters back, but even when he/she opens them, from the cases I've kept up with over the years (both as a reporter and in my personal life), I can't recall these pleas for leniency due to outstanding character ever having much of an effect.

[John Q. Citizen]

8. Of course they should be allowed. Why not?

[baldguy]

They are thinly veiled threats.

Reminding the Judge that Libby has many powerful friends in very high positions & will most likely receive a pardon as soon as he is sentenced.

[BOSSHOG]

9. I would rather see public testimony rather then letters

Have libby supporters (and detractors) stand up before the judge with cameras rolling and plead their case for or against the man.

[Warpy]

11. Sometimes there is live testimony at sentencing

from both victims and supporters. I see no reason why letters and affidavits would be banned.

[bryant69]

17. I wouldn't see the point to that either, although I know it happens N/T

[KansDem]

13. Like so many other institutions we've become suspicious of these past 6-12 years...

It has the potential to be abused by those with power and clout...

[tularetom]

16. they have no bearing on the question of guilt or innocence

they merely offer the judge information he can use or ignore during the sentencing phase of a trial. I would think they mostly tend to be ignored because you can almost guarantee that the writers always have an agenda. I really doubt any judge is gonna reduce scooter libby's sentence because the scootster loves his kids, so I doubt that they hurt anything,

But in this case they were funny as hell to read - and they told me more about the hypocrite aholes who wrote them than they did about libby.