Chad Johnson sentenced to 30 days for butt-slap.....

wow....didn't know it was a domestic abuse case. still think she over-reacted, but after learning that tid bit I guess I have better insight into her reasoning. we humans are often creatures or prisoners of our own past experiences so, who knows, maybe she was once a victim of domestic abuse or saw her mother abused, etc. that said, i still think 30 days was a bit extreme.....maybe 72 hours to think it over in the drunk tank

 

this is a good point.....I didn't realize before that this was a domestic abuse case so I am not as sympathetic to him now since learning that. i still think 30 days is a little much....

 

Not at all. Many parts of the judicial process are very formalized (the one that leaps to mind in a criminal context is Boykinization http://definitions.uslegal.com/b/boykinization/) but, according mostly to the judge's personality, many other parts are much less formal.

In this case, it seems that the judge has a rather large stick shoved firmly up her ass. A more appropriate response, from where I sit, would have been for her to admonish him and move on with her docket.

Lawyers make jokes about it, but the black robe does something to many people. I know one judge who is as nice a guy you'd want to meet, as long as you're in his office or see him out socially. On the bench, he's a first class asshole.

So, breaking decorum? Not even a little bit. Set a misinterpreted tone? Maybe. But still it wasn't in a formal portion of the process.

 

Whether he deserved more for the abuse or not is one thing. Whether he deserved 30 days for the butt slap is another.

I think she over reacted with the 30 days for the butt slap. A fine or community service seems more appropriate.

The judge had agreed to probation for the abuse. If she had a problem with probation she had the right to over over rule it and sentence him on that. To use the butt slap as an excuse to change the sentence demeans the process.