Say this for Circuit Judge Chet A. Tharpe. He calls it as he sees it and tells it like it is.
On sentencing brutal teen rapist Jose Walle to 65 years in prison after a U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a life sentence as cruel and unusual punishment for juveniles who don’t actually murder: “Shouldn’t our focus be first and foremost on the welfare of the victims? Is it not cruel and unusual punishment for the victims to have endured the rage, the brutality, the terror that your client exacted upon them? … Why don’t we focus our money and our resources and our time on fixing the problems as opposed to trying to coddle a Jose Walle?”
On seeing a defendant (whose probation he had just modified) defiantly slam a courtroom door upon exiting: “Hook her up (with ankle and wrist shackles).” He then found her guilty of criminal contempt.
On sentencing a Riverview man, who claimed remorse and rehabilitation, to 10 years for child pornography: “These children don’t have a choice; they can’t defend themselves. I don’t believe you for one minute.”