I thought about attempting a simul-blog about Sentencing class today; however, I think anyone who happened upon reading it would have gotten tired of seeing the phrase "I don't care" approximately twenty-seven thousand times. This is the most disappointing class I've ever taken. I heard great things about it, that Dickey and Smith would impart their wisdom about sentencing, and that it would be an incredible learning experience. Instead, Dickey is always off somewhere (crime-fighting, one presumes) and we get Smithy. That would be fine, if he taught us anything whatsoever about sentencing law. He teaches us a great deal about behavioral psychology instead. Granted, this stuff can come in handy when making a sentencing argument, but so would KNOWING THE ACTUAL LAW. I came into this class knowing very little about sentencing law, and I will leave knowing exactly the same. Plus, there are other issues regarding sentencing beyond just determining what the appropriate sentence should be, such as the applicability of sentencing guidelines, knowing what evidence is permissible at a sentencing hearing, whether judges have too much or too little power in sentencing, and probably hundreds more, except I'll never know anything about them, because we won't even blink at anything like that.
So at what point can I stop the class and ask why we’re not learning anything practical? At what point can I raise my hand and say “This is not what I signed up for.” If I get called on today, what do I do? I can’t drop; I need the credits. Maybe from now on I’ll just forget this reading, and read the case law and the statutes -- you know, the ones I'll have to apply if and when I get a job.
But no. Let’s talk about how best to study crime, or talk about how best to make an offender comply with the law. Wait, no, let’s not. That’s not my job. Whether lawyer or judge, that’s not my job. I’m not a social worker. I’m not a shrink. I can’t fix people’s behavioral problems. That's that job of the Good Chuck.
3 comments:
Yeah, one thinks that had Dickey committed to being in the course, things would have been at least a little more practical. For future rules, I would bar sociology grad students from ever showing their douchey faces in the law school. The same goes for Soccer Moms.
Problem is, when all we've got to read about and discuss is sociology crap, then the law students don't want to talk (unless they're Soccer Moms, and then everything relates back to her fucking children). Not that I really like hearing law students talk, but the topic is usually something I have a fleeting interest in. I was all ready for this class to be something worth really getting into, to the point where I would actually read and want to participate in the discussion. Psych.
Welcome to Law in Action (tm)!
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