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Should Role Model Status Influence Sentencing Decisions?

By Rick Karcher, Michael McCann, Geoffrey Rapp, Greg Skidmore, and Howard Wasserman

I woke up this morning and read a very disturbing quote made by Federal Judge Kenneth Karas who gave Marion Jones the maximum sentence recommended under Jones' plea deal:
Wow! I can't ever recall a situation in which "role model" status of the defendant had any impact on a judge's sentencing decision. And there is good reason for that.

First, role model status is entirely subjective and personal. Some people have role models who are close family members. Some consider their role models to be firemen, teachers and doctors. Why do we insist that athletes are in fact role models to our children? Just because my kid's favorite baseball player is Manny Ramirez and he wears Manny's jersey, doesn't mean that Manny is his role model. My kid doesn't want to be like Manny nor do everything that Manny does. If Manny is ever implicated in wrong doing, my kid will simply say "that's really sad and unfortunate." Regarding external forces that have an influence on my kids, athletes taking steroids or lying about taking steroids is not even remotely on my list of concerns, which includes among other things exposure to violence/sex on television, video games and surfing the internet. In any event, I certainly don't want judges deciding which criminal defendants they "deem" to be role models.

Second, even if Jones is in fact a role model, what relevance does it have with regards to a sentencing decision?! Do teachers and firemen receive harsher sentences because many consider them to be role models? Role model status influencing public opinion is one thing, but influencing judges imposing prison sentences is another....

Full post as published by Sports Law Blog on January 12, 2008 (boomark / email).