Steve Palmer answers questions off the record on the Lawyer Talk podcast

>> Steve Palmer: It is that Time again. I better get in the camera. There it is that Time again. Lawyer Talk off the record on the air. Steve Palmer, coming to you from lawyertalkpodcast.com. q and a. What is q and a? Well, that's question and answer. People ask questions. I do my best to answer. This isn't legal advice. I'm just trying to open up the doors of commentary on legal questions, which I think people find quite fascinating. I do. That's why I went to Law School. Um, and, you know, here's the secret. I think that too many lawyers, they speak the legalese language. They get all full of themselves and they learn this, this extra, this vocabulary in Law School, which is really like going to learn a foreign language, and then that's all they speak. I find that to be nonsensical. I can speak both languages. I think that I. Well, I like to make things simple, and I think almost everything can be made simple. So that's what we're doing right here, answering these questions. Uh, and cutting to the quick. Here we have Garth, who's asking a question.

Steve Palmer: Government prosecutors and judges often overlook impact of prison sentences

Hey, Steve Palmer, have you ever used prison conditions and the impact that prison would have on a defendant, especially an elderly, disabled, or White collar defendant, as a reason for a judge to be more lenient? It seems to me that government prosecutors and the judges don't have any idea of the impact of prison. Um, yes, uh, this comes up all the Time, but I think it's also one of these things. Uh, maybe the best way to answer this is give you a parallel question. I get this all the Time, and I do criminal defense work. I've done it my whole career. People always ask me, well, doesn't it matter? Doesn't it matter that I'm a good guy, that I've never been in trouble before, that, um, this is the first time I've ever done, uh, anything wrong that I've given to charity, that I go to church, that I raise my family, and I do all these good things. Yes, it does matter, but it never matters as much, generally speaking, as people want it to. Often these kinds of things are sort of baked into the equation from the outset. People already know, the prosecutors already know because one, either I've told them, or it's obvious, uh, who they're dealing with and who they're prosecuting. Judges typically know this, too. So it's usually that it's already there and it's baked in and it becomes part of the case. And it doesn't feel that way because it's already part of the case. So it's like, uh, you've already gotten the break because you haven't been charged with more. You've already gotten the break because the deal or the offer you're being, uh, presented already has accounted for it. And it's really difficult when I tell people, look, you would know if it didn't matter because we would be talking about ten years instead of two. Uh, because if you had a bunch, if you had a prior record, you've been in trouble a bunch of times before, then this situation would be a lot worse. This question is sort of like that. Um, judges know, and prosecutors are keenly aware that prison sucks. Uh, and. But I think you're right in another sense, that often it gets thrown around the judicial system. Um, wow, he's going to do a couple years in prison, and prosecutors may just sort of take that for granted and what the impact that is on people's lives. It's my job to advocate for my clients and make sure that judges and prosecutors know that. So when a prosecutor gets a little bit, um, cliche or flip about a prison sentence, I'm like, hold on a second. That's a long time. Um, that's a really long time. This guy's children will be teenagers, or his teenagers will be out of college in that period of Time, or, you know, a man or a boy becomes a man during that period of Time. There are ways you can add a little bit of flavor to it. So, uh, you can get, uh, that across at a sentencing hearing or as I'm negotiating. Um, but, yeah, I do that all the Time. And then the other thing we do, particularly in federal courts, is we negotiate, or at least we can make a request. Uh, it's not always granted, but we can at least make a request for where people go to prison. So there are better prisons than, you know, there are supermaxes and there are camps. And a lot of times, uh, we negotiate some of that, but the Bureau of prisons in federal court takes that into consideration, too. Uh, and that's all based on these things that you're talking about. So if you're elderly, say, even in the State of Ohio, there are different places you'll go. If you're sick, there are different places you'll go and same thing in federal court. And now in federal court, we have something called compassionate release, where if you're really sick or there's, uh, extenuating circumstances, uh, you might even get out early. This was, uh, this became pretty popular during COVID um, a great question. I love it because that hits me right in the heart where I practice in this area every single day. And I like where you're thinking, because prison sucks. And it's easy for, uh, the system, rather, to sort of take it as given that he's going to prison, no big deal. Um, uh, and I think both things are true. I think, uh, the system sort of takes into account already, and I think it's my job to make sure they don't take it into too much or not enough account, I guess, is what I'm trying to say.

People are going to lawyertalkpodcast. com submitting questions

So anyway, lawyer, uh, talk podcast, bringing questions or bringing answers to your questions? Um, now almost, uh, every week, maybe twice a week. So I really appreciate it. People are going to lawyertalkpodcast.com submitting questions. I get them at all hours. And, um, I really enjoy it. I really enjoy the interaction. So keep it up. And obviously you can check out all the old episodes and some of the legacy stuff there, too. Legacy stuff there too. Uh, Steve Palmer, Lawyer Talk,,,,,, Off The Record, on the air, taking your questions, at least until now.