Judge's Role Isn't To Be A Rubber Stamp

Published in the Galveston County Daily News - Guest Column - March 25, 2006

by Judge Susan Criss

I must repond to your editorial today where you state that making a call on a plea bargain is not the job of the judge. My remarks are not about a particular case or a particular judge except myself.

I believe that if my signature is required then so is my thoughtful deliberation. I did not take this job to be a rubber stamp. I always remember that the plea bargain has consequences for the persons standing in front of me, for the victim, for other potential victims and the entire community.

 It is not the job of a judge to broker a deal between the DA and the defense. But it is the judge's responsibility to decide if the deal is just and legal.

 I have rejected many plea bargains. Some were not fair to the victim. Some were not fair to the community . And some were not fair to the accused.

You wrote an editorial stating I was right to reject plea bargains that were unfairly oppressive to women charged with prostitution. I can't just be right when you agree with the  result.

I ask questions of the attorneys and the defendant before I accept plea bargains. Some attorneys have complained before about that. It makes them uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable when attorneys aren't familiar enough with the facts of their case to answer my questions yet they stand before me wanting me to accept the deal they brokered. Most lawyers do their job and have no problem with the asking or the answering. I ask questions of the defendant to make sure they understand the legal consequences of the pleas and are knowingly and voluntarily waiving their constitutional rights.

As a judge I cannot go out and investigate a case. I have to rely on what the lawyers, the defendant and witnesses tell me in court. I know that sometimes the DA must make deals he does not want to because of problems with evidence. Some young vulnerable victims cannot come into court and testify. The DA is stuck between facing certain loss in court or getting a much lesser punishment than the case merits. I try to determine if such problems are the driving force of the plea bargain before deciding what I should do.

Judges are required by law to make several findings before being able to accept a deal. If the judge does not accept a plea bargain the defendant is allowed to withdraw a plea of guilty and enter a plea of not guilty. Judges must determine if a defendant is knowingly and voluntarily giving up certain constituional rights and has the mental competence to do so. I am prohibited by law from accepting a guilty plea if the person claims to be innocent. I have rejected many pleas where that occurred. In some instances the defendant later returned and admitted guilt. In other cases the persons turned out to be innocent.

There are times when a higher court after review has ordered me to sign a document I did not

agree with. That is okay with me. I may not like doing that in a particular case but I respect the process of review by a higher court. It would be arrogant of me or any judge  to assume that we are never  wrong. The only one who was never wrong did not sit on a bench but stood before one before being crucified.

What I can guarantee is that I will always do what I believe to be the right thing. I do not substitute anyone else's judgment for my own.