How Will These People be Sentenced by Judge Karen Hall?

I have located the docket for Judge Karen Hall for the week July 23, 2007. This is some two weeks after Jerry Wayne Love was allowed to walk out of her courtroom practically a free man. You can view it here. A little further down I break down the numbers of what types of cases are on the docket.

But, first, let me say this. There are only two conclusions we, the public, can come to in the Jerry Wayne Love case and they are

1. Mr. Love is guilty of the crimes with which he was charged with and pled guilty to and should be behind bars for the rest of his life.

or

2. He is an innocent man who had to bargain for his freedom by pleading guilty to crimes he is not in fact guilty of and will now be haunted by a sex offender conviction which he does not deserve for the rest of his life.

Which is it?

Either scenario is completely UNACCEPTABLE in a criminal justice system that proclaims to be fair. The offering of such a sweetheart plea deal by the DA and the acceptance of said plea deal by the judge are indefensible in either scenario.

Here's how the numbers break down for the upcoming July 23 court docket for Judge Karen Hall.

108 total cases on the docket for the week of July 23, 2007.

Drug Cases = 25 of 108 which comes out to around 25% of the total of all the cases.

Non-violent cases which include, driving with a suspended license, driving while license revoked, operating a vehicle without insurance, DUI and so forth = 11 which is a little less than 10% of the total cases

Property Crimes (burgulary, possession of a forged insturment, receiving stolen property, theft by deception, breaking and entering a vehicle... etc...)= 49 or roughly half of the cases on the docket.

Violent Crimes including rape, assault, sexual abuse...= 13 which is close to another 10%

Crimes I am not sure how to classify like indecent exposure, criminal mischief, harassing communications make up another 10 which brings us to 108.

Now the clearance rate for all criminal cases for Madison County in FY2006 was 23% (located at the bottom of page 23 of the pdf document). So, that means that only 23 times in 100 are these cases ever solved and disposed of. I'd wager that the majority of drug cases make up the bulk of the solved rates.

Just think....if we removed drugs from oversight by the criminal justice system, why they could focus at least 25% more resources on real crimes with actual victims and dangerous criminals who need to be removed from society.

I'd really love to be in Judge Hall's courtroom on the 23rd to document how she sentences the defendants coming before her on drug charges. There are also a few cases involving sexual abuse and rape. I'd really like to see how she handles those as compared to how she handled the Jerry Wayne Love case.

To make the trip myself I need to raise money to rent a car. One day rentals usually come to around $52. Gas will be another $40-50. I have a relative I can probably stay with there in Madison Co. so I won't need a hotel room. If you would like to help me raise the money to go hang out in Judge Hall's courtroom next week then CLICK HERE.

Additionally, if there is anyone in Madison Co. or the surrounding area who would like to sit in on this docket and document what happens then please email me. If I can't raise the money then at least I will still be able to get someone in that courtroom with a pen and a piece of paper to write down what is being done. If I can make it I would still like to have anyone interested in this case there with me. Two or more pairs of eyes and ears are always better than one.