How sentencing was hijacked by Congress and Presidents

Stillwater prison
Inside a cell block where about 280 inmates live Friday, May 2, 2014 at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater. The historic prison, which is home to 1617 adult offenders, is 100 years old.
Jennifer Simonson/MPR News

Retired US district court judge James Robertson says too many people are imprisoned for low-level non-violent crimes because prosecutors, not the judges, have all the power. In the current system, he says sentences might as well be handed out by computer. Should judges have more discretion to determine what's fair?

James Robertson spoke in December at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School. The q/a was moderated by retired US district judge James Rosenbaum and introduced by former Vice President Walter Mondale.

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