Posted on 04/06/2026 5:50:13 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Those who wield power over life and liberty should share, at least proportionally, in the price of being wrong.
Dr. Thomas Sowell, the renowned economist and social theorist, once observed: “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” His insight highlights a fundamental disparity in governance. Politicians, bureaucrats, and judges routinely issue rulings and enact policies that carry enormous ripple effects on society -- yet they are insulated from the human and financial costs incurred when those choices prove misguided. We see this being played out in the criminal justice system, where decisions about release, bail, and sentencing directly shape public safety.
Judges exercise considerable discretion in pretrial releases, sentencing guidelines, and immigration-related detentions. Meanwhile, politicians shape the statutory frameworks that govern these processes, from sanctuary policies to sentencing reforms. When an individual with a documented history of violence is released and later commits additional crimes, the consequences fall squarely on their victims, their families and communities. The decision-makers themselves face no equivalent personal stake. Federal judges enjoy lifetime tenure, which brings its own issues. State judges may face infrequent retention elections, and elected officials can pivot to new priorities or blame systemic factors.
Sowell argues that this lack of feedback loops prevents learning and perpetuates flawed approaches. Elites insulated from outcomes pursue ideological visions without the corrective pressure that ordinary citizens confront every day. Countless instances have recently arisen where released offenders with serious records reoffend. One federal case in Louisiana involved a judge ordering the release of four individuals from ICE custody at a state prison. These men were previously convicted of crimes including homicide, aggravated assault, sexual exploitation of a minor,
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
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Yes, charge the lenient judges and sanctuary politicians as accomplices.
Sowell is a national treasure. Would that we get to benefit from his wisdom for many more years. Thankfully, he’s written it all down!
The number of rogue decisions for erotic liberty, anti-male activism, protecting criminals, and the like have become the worst of the worst.
As soon as I read , “Decisions Without Consequences” I knew it was about judges ,LOL
I quit my first job as a Consultant in part because so didn’t have to live with the consequences of my actions.
I felt that it was both dishonorable and insufficiently instructive.
And I was right. I was more responsible and learned more when I stayed in the organization for which Inwas making decisions, and enjoyed the fruits or suffered the consequences.
Elites suck.
One of the things to take into consideration is that everyone makes mistakes. Everyone.
Judges and police have to deal with thousands of cases. Even if they get 99.9% right, there are still those mistakes.
Destroy Judges and police for the one of a thousand mistakes, and you don’t have many left.
The article talks about finding a way to make judges and police accountable without destroying the system.
The argument is always based on prison populations are too large for the facilities and too many of a certain ethnic group is part of that population.
Excellent article. Thank you for posting. I have been reminding people of that for years, that if politicians and judges were required to live with the consequences of the policy they create, there would be less of those policies.
The left can say they make decisions with consequences it’s all they do.
You can study the records of what are considered the “best judges”(who may have let a clinker loose by honest mistake a few times over many years) vs judges whose number of “clinker” decisions make them notoriously bad. Then you can create a law that censures, removes or even jails bad judges based on metrics derived from the info above. The system doesn’t need to be destroyed to fix the problem.
The system doesn’t need to be destroyed to fix the problem.
YES, they are accomplices, enablers, co-conspirators, anti-civilization, unaccountable, POS SCUMBAGS.
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