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THE SENTENCING JUDGE’S REMARKS ABOUT THE DEFENDANT MIMICKED 19TH CENTURY POLYGENISM, A DEBUNKED RACIST IDEOLOGY; SENTENCE VACATED AND REDUCED (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, vacating defendant’s sentence, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Lynch, determined the judge’s racist remarks at the time of sentencing required vacation of the sentence, which the Third Department reduced from 15-years-to-life to five years:

The court, practically right out of the gate, stated, “[Defendant], I feel sorry for you. Because I know that if we were to look in your mind we would find that your brain, your frontal lobes, your decision making processes are probably retarded in growth.” The court then inexplicably and shockingly reiterated, “Because we have learned through medicine, through science, that physical mental abuse especially at a young age will stunt the growth of the frontal lobes which prevents people from making decisions.” The court finally reinforced its own beliefs when it stated, “[T]he sentence here is in a way to make you safe from hurting yourself or others, because I appreciate the fact that your brain is not developed, through no fault of your own.”

In fashioning an appropriate sentence, the trial court is required to weigh and consider societal protection, rehabilitation and deterrence, as well as the circumstances that gave rise to the conviction” … . Factors that have zero role in this process are the skin color of the defendant and racist views — a premise that should not have to be explicitly stated. The commentary focusing on defendant’s brain growth mimics 19th century polygenism, a racist ideology that focused on the claimed inferiority of black people based upon now debunked theories of reduced brain size … . It is shocking that any court, in 2018, would refer to this black defendant’s brain, frontal lobes and retardation of growth in concluding that defendant’s brain was not developed. Defendant is not a child or an adolescent, but was a 41-year-old grown black man at the time of sentencing. County Court’s statements are textbook language that has been used since the late 19th century and even today to justify racist ideologies and beliefs that black people are an inferior race. We find the court’s commentary dehumanizing and offensive.  People v Johnson, 2021 NY Slip Op 04162, Third Dept 7-1-21

 

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