State v. Gallion

¶ 1.

ANN WALSH BRADLEY, J.

In all Anglo-American jurisprudence a principal obligation of the judge is to explain the reasons for his actions. His decisions will not he understood by the people and cannot be reviewed by the appellate courts unless the reasons for decisions can he examined. It is thus apparent that requisite to a prima facie valid sentence is a statement by the trial judge detailing his reasons for selecting the particular sentence imposed.

McCleary v. State, 49 Wis. 2d 263, 280-81, 182 N.W.2d 512 (1971).

¶ 2. Those words are as true today as they were when they first appeared in…