Sentence Ends in Question : Dog abuser gets 6 months; slayer of black teen gets probation

In the wake of her controversial sentencing of a Korean grocer who shot to death a black girl, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joyce A. Karlin has a new assignment.

The presiding judge insists that the new posting in Juvenile Court is not related to the community’s uproar over Soon Ja Du’s suspended sentence for manslaughter; nevertheless, the development is helpful and necessary, if only to calm a tense situation.

Karlin sentenced Du, 51, to a 10-year suspended prison sentence, five years’ probation, a $500 fine and 400 hours of community service after she was convicted in the shooting of Latasha Harlins, 15.

The independence of the judiciary is fundamental to the functioning of the U.S. system of justice. But so is faith in the system.

To many citizens, Du’s sentence was highly questionable, especially when compared to harsher sentences that have been handed down for lesser offenses.

Consider, for example, the six-month jail sentence imposed by another judge two years ago on a Pacoima postal worker who shot a dog. Considering the disparity between the two sentences, might it not be reasonable for many to conclude that the life of a dog is worth more than the life of a black teen-ager?

Harlins was shot in the back of the head last March after an altercation with Du over a bottle of orange juice. Karlin’s decision to not send Du to prison has been controversial ever since it was handed down in November. Protesters have organized a recall petition and demonstrated outside the judge’s courtroom and her home.

Karlin had requested the Juvenile Court assignment. One hopes that her transfer from the criminal bench will calm some of the anger over the Du sentence.