Federal judge raps rules on sentencing
Monday, May 29th, 2006
By Chris Fitzsimon
Mullen says guidelines give prosecutors too much power
GARY L. WRIGHT
gwright@charlotteobserver.com
Graham Mullen has sent hundreds of black men, mostly young and mostly convicted for drugs, to prison. The federal judge in Charlotte hasn’t liked it.
"I’m tired of sentencing young black men to prison," Mullen said during a recent interview.
The 66-year-old judge doesn’t intend to do that much longer.
Mullen, a judge in Charlotte and the Western District of North Carolina for 16 years, has taken senior status. That’s a move akin to semi-retiring but one that allows him to continue working at a reduced pace. It means President Bush will be able to nominate a replacement.
Mullen, who earns $165,200 a year, is no longer accepting cases that will require him to put anyone behind bars. Once he disposes of the more than 150 criminal cases already assigned to him, he’ll focus on civil litigation.
Mullen has contempt for the federal sentencing guidelines, which he believes have given prosecutors more power than judges in deciding punishments.
He once said the guidelines, designed by Congress in the 1980s to make prison terms tougher and more uniform, would "gag a maggot." Even though the U.S. Supreme Court last year abandoned years of federal sentencing practices, they are still in place as advisory guidelines.
Mullen doesn’t shy from speaking out about what he perceives as injustices. He’s told federal prosecutors they have a reputation of being arrogant bullies. And he’s refused to accept plea bargains that force criminal suspects to give up their rights to appeal.
"Judge Mullen is his own man," Charlotte lawyer James Wyatt said. "He does not care about doing anything other than what he believes is right and fair. That doesn’t always make everyone happy, and it shouldn’t."
The judge’s critics say he can sometimes seem hostile toward prosecutors.
"He’s a bright guy and he’s capable of doing very well. But he can manipulate the law to suit his purposes," said one former prosecutor, who didn’t want his name attached to comments critical of a federal judge. "He sometimes ignores or bends the law." (more…)
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