Hugo Black

Name: Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court
Author: Hugo Black

Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court

Summary

“Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court”, is a work by Hugo Black. It explores elements such as sentencing, New York and judge.

Quotes from Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court (Hugo Black)

Hugo Black, Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court

“ It is urged, however, that we should draw a constitutional distinction as to the procedure for obtaining information where the death sentence is imposed. We cannot accept the contention. Leaving a sentencing judge free to avail himself of out-of-court information in making such a fateful choice of sentences does secure to him a broad discretionary power, one susceptible of abuse. But in considering whether a rigid constitutional barrier should be created, it must be remembered that there is possibility of abuse wherever a judge must choose between life imprisonment and death. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court

“ Under New York statutes a state judge cannot escape his grave responsibility of fixing sentence. In determining whether a defendant shall receive a one-year minimum or a twenty-year maximum sentence, we do not think the Federal Constitution restricts the view of the sentencing judge to the information received in open court. The due-process clause should not be treated as a device for freezing the evidential procedure of sentencing in the mold of trial procedure. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court

“ The considerations we have set out admonish us against treating the due-process clause as a uniform command that courts throughout the Nation abandon their age-old practice of seeking information from out-of-court sources to guide their judgment toward a more enlightened and just sentence. New York criminal statutes set wide limits for maximum and minimum sentences. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court

“ Tribunals passing on the guilt of a defendant always have been hedged in by strict evidentiary procedural limitations. [4] But both before and since the American colonies became a nation, courts in this country and in England practiced a policy under which a sentencing judge could exercise a wide discretion in the sources and types of evidence used to assist him in determining the kind the extent of punishment to be imposed within limits fixed by law. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court

“ And it is conceded that no federal constitutional objection would have been possible if the judge here had sentenced appellant to death because appellant's trial manner impressed the judge that appellant was a bad risk for society, or if the judge had sentenced him to death giving no reason at all. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court

“ That policy as stated in Re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 273, 68 S.Ct. 499, 507, 508, 92 L.Ed. 682, is in part that no person shall be tried and convicted of an offense unless he is given reasonable notice of the charges against him and is afforded an opportunity to examine adverse witnesses. [3] That the due process clause does provide these salutary and time-tested protections where the question for consideration is the guilt of a defendant seems entirely clear from the genesis and historical evolution of the clause. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court

“ Probation workers making reports of their investigations have not been trained to prosecute but to aid offenders. Their reports have been given a high value by conscientious judges who want to sentence persons on the best available information rather than on guesswork and inadequate information. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court

“ On the contrary a strong motivating force for the changes has been the belief that by careful study of the lives and personalities of convicted offenders many could be less severely punished and restored sooner to complete freedom and useful citizenship. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Williams v. New York — Opinion of the Court

“ Cooley, Probation and Delinquency (1927) .↑ Judge Ulman writing on The Trial Judge's Dilemma discusses the problems that confront the sentencing judge and quotes from one of his court opinions as to the factors that a judge should consider in imposing sentence:↑ The late Federal Judge Lewis B. Schwellenbach in his article on the difficulties that confront a sentencing judge wrote: 'The knowledge of the life of a man, his background and his family, is the only proper basis for the determination as to his treatment. There is no substitute for information. ”

Hugo Black

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