Mo. judges favor probation over prison for gun offenders

Judges in St. Louis stand accused of being light handed when doling out sentences for gun offenders

April 28, 2015 01:10 PM

Police work at the scene of a shooting Thursday, June 13, 2013, in St. Louis. St. Louis police say an argument inside a business south of downtown escalated into gun violence, with a man shooting three other people before turning the gun on himself.

By C1 Staff

ST. LOUIS — Judges in St. Louis stand accused of being light handed when doling out sentences for gun offenders.

CBS News reports that 62 percent of those convicted of a gun crime received probation instead of prison time from judges in the 22nd Circuit, according to a Circuit Attorney report.

The report also found that those who were sentenced to prison received lighter sentences than those requested by the Circuit Attorney.

A study conducted by UMSL Criminologist Professor Richard Rosenfeld found that over the last five years, judges gave out probation 62.9 percent of time.

A spokesperson for the Circuit Attorney said that gun cases were moved more quickly through the system, but that it only meant faster probations.

A January report by KMOX found that 20 of the 30 judges in the 22nd Judicial Circuit lived in neighborhoods where there were no killings last year, implying “that judges can give gun criminals a second chance by day and walk their dogs at night in neighborhoods beyond the blood and bullets.”