[high_na_euv]

>District Court Judge Brian Morris said he struggled to come up with a sentence, but had to deter anyone else from trying to "change the genetic makeup of the creatures" on the planet.

Whatever the judge is feeling today, huh?

[alex7734]

I don't know what you did wrong, but don't worry, I can be very creative

[nozzlegear]

They do know what he did wrong: a conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantively violating the Lacey Act. He pleaded guilty to both charges.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/montana-man-sentenced-federal...

[nozzlegear]

If someone breaks the law, but the judge can't find fitting a sentence, is it justice for them to not be sentenced at all? Change the crime to something like robbery, extortion, murder, etc.

(This is just a rhetorical question.)

[olddustytrail]

That's literally the opposite of what the judge said. How did you translate "I struggled to find the correct solution" to "I just went with whatever"?

[high_na_euv]

>but had to deter anyone else from trying to

[pavel_lishin]

My experience with jury duty this week has reinforced the fact that judges are humans, just like the rest of us, for better or for worse.

[marcusverus]

Ever heard of the Hungry Judge Effect?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungry_judge_effect

[grues-dinner]

I think that study, though heavily cited, is now considered to be a pretty shaky conclusion, even if not actually disproven.