Empathy for Mass Murderers?

Conn Carroll / June 15, 2010

When President Barack Obama first responded to the retirement of former Supreme Court Justice David Souter he outlined his preferred judging philosophy:

I will seek …. someone who understands justice and isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a case book, it is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s live whether they can make a living and care for their families whether they feel safe in their homes and welcome in their own nation, I view that quality of empathy of understanding and identifying what people’s hopes and struggles as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes.

Enter District Judge Robert Chatigny who the President has nominated to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Be warned the video to the right highlighting Chatigny’s judicial record is not for the faint of heart. It contains graphic details of heinous crimes. Fortunately Heritage Center for Legal and Judicial Studies Deborah O’Malley has also summarized the controversy: (more…)