Take a Judge to Jail

Most judges have never even seen the institutions where they send criminals for as long as the rest of their lives. Concerned by this distance between jurist and jail, New York State's top judicial administrative board has announced a new rule requiring judges to visit prisons and other detention facilities at least once every four years. The board hopes that getting off the bench and behind the bars -- sensitivity training of sorts -- will "strengthen the understanding judges have of facilities and institutions to which they send individuals." That may well be true, but one great psychological gap will remain, based on the simple fact that cell doors will always swing open at the slightest gesture from a visiting judge.

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