Since when is a judge's philosophy on the constitutionality of state laws supposed to act as a substitute for a sound judgment in a murder case? In the Washington Post this week: Prosecutors in Prince George's County are seeking to rearrest a suspect who allegedly murdered a man on Feb. 24 and threatened to kill a witness who saw him and another man carry the victim out of an apartment building in Oxon Hill. The 18-year-old suspect was was being held on $1.5 million bond but was released into the custody of his mother by District Court Judge Hassan A. El-Amin.
The judge defended his actions:
[Judge] El-Amin...denounced as "barely constitutional" the state judicial system's method of determining whether and under what conditions defendants are released before trial. The vast majority of defendants are not represented by an attorney at such appearances, he said. [Sean] Sykes [the defendant] had no attorney.
Incredibly, El-Amin did not deem Sykes a flight risk or a danger to the community.
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