This article concerns a current prosecution of the former Charles Rothenberg (now “Charley Charles”), who gained worldwide notoriety 20 years ago for setting fire to his 6-year-old son in a motel. The story raises all kinds of issues: the propriety of giving a prosecutor so much discretion in charging (and ultimately sentencing) defendants; the proportionality of sentencing under 3 strikes in different California counties; the competing personalities in the current SF District Attorney race; and the propriety of imposing huge sentences for relatively minor current crimes because of a defendant’s past convictions. An altogether interesting read from Pam Smith of The Recorder.
This article concerns a current prosecution of the former Charles Rothenberg (now “Charley Charles”), who gained worldwide notoriety 20 years ago for setting fire to his 6-year-old son in a motel. The story raises all kinds of issues: the propriety of giving a prosecutor so much discretion in charging (and ultimately sentencing) defendants; the proportionality of sentencing under 3 strikes in different California counties; the competing personalities in the current SF District Attorney race; and the propriety of imposing huge sentences for relatively minor current crimes because of a defendant’s past convictions. An altogether interesting read from Pam Smith of The Recorder.
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