Question: undestanding that guilty verdicts for the seven counts existed, how much leeway did the judge have when arriving at a sentence?
Honestly with the way he rounded off his thoughts before asking Sam to rise to receive his sentence, I’d say he was more constrained by popular opinion than the sentencing guidelines.
Michael Lewis: “Judge Kaplan clearly loved thinking about Sam’s case and began by tossing the guidelines out the courtroom window. After that, he could do whatever he felt like doing, short of sentencing Sam to death.”
Judge Kaplan: “At the end of the day, the criminal justice system in this country or any country can enjoy the support of the population, which is essential to its functioning in more ways than I could describe, only if on the whole people think it works fairly that guilty people get their just deserts, that innocent people aren’t wrongly convicted, and that they can get their arms around the case as they hear about it – say, ‘well, I might have decided that a little differently, but it sounds reasonable, it sounds fair.’ That’s what we depend on. If that’s not happening, we’re back to trial by combat, folks, or something like it. And so, the judgment has to adequately reflect the seriousness of the crime, and this was a very serious crime.”
I’d have more sympathy for this rationale if the court of public opinion hadn’t reached their verdict with so much hate, haste and certainty.
If the ‘court of public opinion,’ or in Germany’s 1930s “das gesunde Volksempfinden” (the “healthful sentiment of the people”) is of any use, it is usually several years after the fact. The heat of the moment tempts vigilante, rather than contemplative behaviors.
It is also my understanding that the judge had the verdict ready, typewritten, before the hearing started. I don’t know whether this is standard procedure, but input during the event is evidently not considered.
Good point about contemplative vs mob justice.
It appears that Michael Lewis (who attended the sentencing) shares your understanding: “The courtroom proceedings involved statements from Bankman-Fried, his lawyers, and a victim, though these had little impact on the predetermined sentence.”