[fabsroman]

I don't think any judge in his right mind would say "this guy is rough, on drugs, has no stable home, and he is in and out of jail" but it would be fine for him to have visitation rights. (I edited your quote because it was tough for me to use).

A judge listens to all the evidence, decides who to believe, or what to believe from whom, and then he makes a decision.

I had a case this Thursday where my client was charged with 4 counts of second degree assault, three of which were against police officers, and a single charge of disorderly conduct. The State's Attorney gave me a plea of guilty to the disorderly and a nolle (i.e., no charge) for all the assault charges. It took me half an hour to convince my client that this was a good deal because he maintained that he was innocent. The problem was that I surely couldn't prove that he was innocent because the judge would never believe him over 3 police officers.

My client maintained that he confronted a girl in a bar that was carrying a beer and asked how old she was. She responded 14. As a result, he tried to take the beer out of her hand and he was punched in the face from nowhere. He ended up with a broken nose from that punch and I actually got to see it the next day. Somewhere in there, the police arrived and beat him up good too. He got 8 stitches to the head where he was hit with a flashlight. He pretty much had a completely swollen head the next day.

The police officers weren't even there to testify, even though the judge wanted to hear from them.

After I gave my speech, the judge actually have my client Probation Before Judgment, which I thought was a complete miracle. When I woke up that morning, I thought that I would have done a great job if I got a guilty on the disorderly conduct and a suspended sentence. However, the judge asked me if my client had been drinking because he was on probation for a DWI. I never asked my client because I knew he was on probation. So, my response was I did not know. He asked my client and my client responded that he hadn't been drinking because he was only at the bar to see a band. I guess he didn't believe my client because he sent him for 12 AA meetings.

However, he probably granted my client a PBJ because my client started his own business about a year ago and currently has 9 employees. Also factored in there is that he has sole custody of his two kids, 10 and 11 years of age, and the mother is nowhere to be found. In the end, I think my client might have been slightly guilty, but I think that he received more than he should have in the beating that he got. I also think the initial punch thrower got off easy because the police officers and the State's Attorney didn't listen to my client's side of the story.

Simply put, judges have a lot to deal with in every case. You should try making the decisions they have to make every day. In an intermural basketball league I was playing in during law school, I thought the refs missed a lot of calls and I gave them a hard time about it. That is until it was my turn to ref a game and I took a beating from the players for not calling fouls. Sit in a judges chair for a day and then tell me what it is like when a father is pleading to see his children and the mother is pleading against it. Not an easy decision and the judges usually lean toward visitation.