More than any other branch of government, the judiciary is based on public trust because judges cannot command armies or police forces, they cannot create laws, and they do not have the authority to use the purse to support initiatives. Instead, they issue legal judgments. Rulings that the people must believe came from competent, lawful, and independent judicial officers.
It’s a judge’s job to be right, and ultimately they wear the robes, not you. However, every litigant will ultimately come against a jurist who is demonstrably wrong on a particular point. This situation could put both the court and the litigant in a sticky situation, whether the error is a judgment on an objection or a wrong application of the law but in this case, the Judge just gave a sickening chance to represent the Country to a prison guard who violated someone’s liberty!
After finding him guilty of sexually abusing a sick, handcuffed inmate he was supposed to transfer to the hospital, Kentucky Judge Thomas Wingate recently handed former prison guard Brandon Scott Price the choice of going to jail or re-enlisting in the Army!
Like since when do you get to choose your punishment?
Judge Thomas Wingate gave 28-year-old Brandon Scott Price a 12-month sentence with a two-year suspension! He can escape any jail time if he decides to accept the judge’s offer within the next month!
“If you don’t enroll in 30 days, you can report to the Franklin County Regional Jail,” Wingate said. “You are under the gun, young man. You gotta do it.”
In 2019, while serving as a guard at the Franklin County Regional Jail, Price assaulted a female prisoner. According to a complaint filed by the convict, “Though Price’s shift was near its end, Price volunteered to transport (the inmate) to the hospital.” The lawsuit claims that Price pulled over the van he was driving the inmate back from the hospital in and sexually attacked her, Price propositioned the woman with an offer to help her get an early release in exchange for a sex act and then assaulted her while she was shackled in violation of jail policy and industry standards and procedures.
“He turned around and told (the inmate) if she performed oral sex on him, he would talk to the KDOC employee he knew about getting her released from jail earlier,” reads the lawsuit.
Speaking to Price during his sentencing, Judge Wingate told him he’s getting a “huge break.”
“You made a terrible mistake, which I know personally cost the county money.”
The military recruiters are not required to accept anyone who does not match the requirements for enlistment, as stated in Task & Purpose, “therefore a judge’s ruling does not reach beyond the doors of a recruiting office.”
The thing that really baffles me—and this isn’t even my speculation—is that a sitting judge would have read this fact pattern and concluded, “Wow, this man needs some leniency.” The Honorable Justice Wingate did not hold back at Price’s sentencing, informing Price that he was receiving “a massive break.” Really? The first felony charge of third-degree sodomy was reduced to a misdemeanor charge of second-degree assault.
The judge wondered, “Hmm, what else can I do to sweeten the pot”…before having the brilliant idea to enlist the man in the military. Where do close to 25% of servicewomen experience sex abuse at the hands of their comrades? Him? The judge wanted to provide him with a gun on top of that, another costume to intimidate people in.
There is also the procedural question of whether Price’s decision to accept the “go to the army instead” option would have been successful. I’m not concerned about that. The impact of judicial forbearance in situations where such activities are themselves an affront to justice is what worries me.
I wish judges had to provide a clear justification for their decision to respond in the manner they did when they imposed penalties like that, which are obviously discretionary. When absurdity is like this or when a judge decides to lock up a group of children for a crime that didn’t occur again, I believe it would be beneficial.
Sources: Taphaps, State, Taskandpurpose
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