Judicial Discretion
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New York Post : LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman moves to disqualify Judge Yvette Verastegui over soft sentences
Judicial discretion framed as adversarial to prosecutorial authority and victims
The article consistently positions judicial leniency as a threat to prosecutorial control and victim justice, using conflict framing and moral language. The absence of the judge’s perspective strengthens the adversarial portrayal.
“We are not going to let her unilaterally come up with resolutions that we believe completely undersell a case and do additional damage to victims.”
RNZ : National to scrap good character assessments for sex offenders at sentencing
Judicial discretion in sexual offence sentencing framed as illegitimate
The proposal to prohibit judges from considering good character frames current judicial discretion as inappropriate or unjust in sexual offence cases, implying it lacks legitimacy in these contexts.
“Under National, judges will be prohibited from treating good character as a mitigating factor at sentencing for all sexual offending.”