Court Opinion

ID: 9746586
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 14:28:30.018599+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:15.158671
License: Public Domain

TAMILIA, Judge,
concurring:
I join the majority Opinion as it correctly states and applies the law, however, I write separately only to observe that justice could have been served without going outside the guidelines. The guidelines have been carefully designed to fulfill the legislative intent for balanced sentencing on an individual basis and geographically, while giving appropriate weight to the nature of the crime. The vast majority of sentences are in compliance with the guidelines, which allow considerable judicial discretion. Should an excessive number of sentences exceed the guidelines to the degree there is no likelihood of release before death, prisons, which are becoming a limited resource, will serve as repositories for infirm and incapacitated elderly patients in their declining years. Already, the cost of incarceration in California exceeds the cost of education. The graying of our prison population ultimately will result in the length of sentences being determined by prison officials rather than the courts when the cost becomes unbearable. Careful application of and adherence to the guidelines can mitigate this foreseeable concern.
I am also cognizant of the thoughtful dissent by our esteemed colleague, Judge John G. Brosky, in which he cites two cases, which I authored, to support his position. Commonwealth v. Simpson, 353 Pa.Super. 474, 510 A.2d 760 (1986), Commonwealth v. Parrish, 340 Pa.Super. 528, 490 A.2d 905 (1985). Unfortunately, in the intervening years since those Opinions were published, our Supreme Court has hardened its position on sentencing, and sociological or philosophic arguments are not sufficient to overrule a trial judge who has gone outside the guidelines in an otherwise legal sentence if he gives adequate reasons for doing so.