Judge John McBain sentenced 31-year-old Camia Gamet to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday for killing her boyfriend in 2012. When Gamet appeared to mock the victim's grieving family members by rolling her eyes, the judge said "I hope you die in prison". More: kdvr.com.
I think there's a larger question here about how do we want our judges to behave. The whole legal system is built on the idea that the court is impartial, that you will be treated fairly because the court behaves as best as it can as a machine. Evidence goes in one end and rulings come out the other.
Not looking at what a judge may believe while not acting as an official, is this really an acceptable way for a judge to behave while in court?
Do I support the judge? No, not as far as he is the judicial element of the state; he should be above any reproach. I can sympathize with how he fells, but he should know better.
I do think his statements indicate something about the prison system and what we as citizens should expect when we do go to prison though.
There's no conflict between processing facts and arguments impartially, and being appalled by the eventual conclusion. I don't think the judge's comments during sentencing imply that he was impartial during the trial. The outrageousness of a crime (or lack thereof) shouldn't influence the determination of a person's guilt, but I think it's completely appropriate that it influence the sentencing. In fact, this is one reason I think Three Strikes laws are bad, because they hamper the ability of judges to consider the circumstances of the third offense while passing sentence.