U.S. District Court judge from Omaha sought fair balance of crime, punishment [Video]

As a U.S. District Court judge for Nebraska, Lyle Strom believed citizens should be held accountable for poor decisions but penalties should be fair. 

“Dad was very fair-minded,” Cassie Strom, a daughter who followed her father in the legal profession, said Tuesday. “He also knew the impact punishment could have on a family and a community.”

In 1993, Strom decided not to sentence two Black men found guilty of dealing crack cocaine according to federal guidelines. The men were set to receive 30-year sentences for dealing crack cocaine, significantly harsher than the penalties for dealing in powder cocaine.

He handed down sentences of 20 years for both men, punishment that was more in line with more affluent, White defendants being sent to prison for powder cocaine. His decision was overturned by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but Strom’s actions sparked debate. 

“There was no scientific basis anywhere” for …