Court Opinion

ID: 9482497
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:52:05.769039+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:01.891253
License: Public Domain

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge,'
concurring.
I write separately only to note that at sentencing the prosecutor commented that the defendant’s conduct was “a real-life example of how our country is awash in Colombian cocaine, distributed by Colombians.” It is extremely unlikely that this remark affected the sentence pronounced by the very able and experienced trial judge. Nonetheless, this sort of inappropriate comment — suggesting that Colombians, because of the notoriety of their country of origin, should be punished more severely than others for similar crimes— seems to be creeping into a number of records that reach this court. This is an unworthy — and unnecessary — weapon in the prosecutorial armory, and its use should not be condoned.