By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma
Shooting back at the Second Circuit, Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York writes passionately and eloquently that enforcing the five-year mandatory minimum sentence for distribution of child pornography over file-sharing programs like Gigatribe is an unnecessary cruelty. The Court of Appeals yesterday overturned Judge Weinstein’s below-minimum sentence in United States v. Reingold, holding that imposing the full five-year minimum would not run afoul of the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.