Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge Lawyers host Judge D’Emic for a sentencing and punishment talk

March 26, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The Bay Ridge Lawyers Association (BRLA) welcomed Hon. Matthew D'Emic (center) at its monthly CLE meeting. Pictured from left: BRLA Secretary Stephen A. Spinelli, Vice President Grace M. Borrino, Hon. Matthew D'Emic, Corresponding Secretary Joseph R. Vasile and President Lisa M. Becker. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese
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The Bay Ridge Lawyers Association (BRLA) on Wednesday held its monthly Continuing Legal Education (CLE) meeting in Bay Ridge, where Hon. Matthew J. D’Emic discussed “Judicial Decision Making — Sentencing and Punishment.”

“Judge D’Emic has become a really good friend to the association,” said Lisa Becker, president of the BRLA. “He’s extremely knowledgeable, smart, and he’s someone that you want to listen to when he speaks. He’s very personable.

“He talked about sentencing and what’s just and appropriate regarding a defendant committing a crime and all of the factors he considers when sentencing.”

Experienced attorneys must complete 24 hours of CLE courses during each two-year period to stay active within the bar. This typically means brushing up on new areas of the law — but D’Emic said it is important to get a refresher on essential subjects learned in law school as well.

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“The subject was judicial decision-making,” D’Emic said. “It centered around the criminal term and why judges sentence people to prison and the traditional common law rationales for that, which we learned in law school, but everybody forgets about.”

D’Emic said sentencing is something that judges take very seriously and is often the most difficult part of any judge’s job.

“It can be very difficult, sometimes, for a judge to make important decisions, and they can’t just be made intuitively, but have to be made deliberately,” he said. “It’s the most difficult thing I do. Where’s justice?”

The BRLA will meet again on April 29, and Hon. Robert Gigante, a judge of the Staten Island surrogate’s court, will be speaking. Hon. John G. Ingram will be the speaker during the CLE meeting on May 27. All meetings are held at Hunter’s Steak and Ale House in Bay Ridge.


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