Commonwealth v. Reneer

Respectfully, I dissent.

Our Court has elected to grant comity to a new law that effects substantial changes in judicial procedure. These changes are poorly conceived and constitutionally flawed.

The Majority Opinion agrees to these changes under the principle of comity. “Comity” means, by definition, judicial adoption “not as a matter of obligation, but out of deference and respect.” Black’s Law Dictionary, p. 242, “Judicial Comity,” (5th ed. 1979). When we do this, it is not the General Assembly but our Court that has spawned this new sentencing system. Our Court, not the General Assembly,…