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Comment by rmk | Hacker News Reader

I wonder if one could employ a legal strategy to 'taint' as many judges as possible by retaining spouses etc. to get a favorable judge. Brings to mind an episode of The Sopranos where Tony Soprano is advised to consult all the leading divorce lawyers in the area to deny his wife the opportunity to retain them if a divorce were initiated (he ends up doing that and crippling his wife's chances of retaining a good lawyer).

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> I wonder if one could employ a legal strategy to 'taint' as many judges as possible by retaining spouses etc. to get a favorable judge.

In practice you'd probably only want to taint the worst ones. In this case the judge he was assigned was supposedly one of the most lenient ones in the district, so this definitely isn't a good thing for him at all.

How is there a widespread differential in sentencing outcomes based on a judge's leniency? When both sides present their recommendations, isn't the judge required to formulate a sentence informed by those recommendations/joint submissions with regard to the mitigating/aggravating factors that are fairly objective?

I've never bought into the idea that a lenient or overly-draconian sentence not informed by standard practice and sentencing principles wouldn't just get struck down or severely modified on appeal

fwig this is actually known as a strategy in divorces, in some states. Not total fiction.

Do judges often have spouses who are in a similar profession i.e. lawyers ?

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