District
28 reviews
[Redacted by Ed.] She doesn’t take into consideration the defense lawyer’s recommendations, nor does she follow the new law for the 2 point reduction. She pretty much denies everyone that comes across her desk even if the person qualifies. She loves to separate families and gives unfair sentences. This woman has got to be the most cold hearted person living.
[Redacted by Ed.] She sentenced my daughter to 12 years, who never hurt anyone or killed anyone. Instead, sentence her to federal prison for 12 years. My daughter has 9 children, My daughter was a drug addict, not a murderer. I have reviewed murder cases and the person didn't get 12 years. My grandchildren are injured...PTSD...separation withdrawal...My daughter's case was compared to the Pill Mill in Portsmouth and these guys didn't get any jail time. She was charged with Methodone pills, she had 3 pills on her. charged with a pink gun. No gun was ever produced in evidence, but she continues to get 5 years for a gun charge. The Prosecutor is the most corrupted in Hampton Roads. The Judge used emails to help convict my child. My daughter suffers from Bipolar and paranoid schizophrenia. My daughter committed a crime yes, but does she deserve to miss every graduation, Christmas, or birthday, with her children..No...Did she deserve to sit on State Soil for 4 years as a Federal Prisoner..NO. WE all have been Prodigal children at some point and time in our lives. We serve a forgiving God. My daughter gave birth to her youngest child while incarcerated. She gave Birth handcuffed to the bed and now something to this day is wrong with my grandbaby"s right leg. If you ever went through postpartum pregnancy, then you would know that what you feel is real and not a time to be asked to make a plea deal....never offer a mental evaluation. I am not being an over-protected Mother, But right is right, and wrong is wrong. [Redacted] which is now my duty and honor to show abuse of power. [Redacted]
Disastrous and dumb as a rock.
No. Just, no.
Horrible. Just absolutely horrible.
Hon. Rebecca Smith doesn't take the entire case into consideration or the person and or families lives when she is handing down a sentence. She always sentences on the extreme high side of the guidelines. Extremely unfair judge.
She is an outstanding jurist, and a terrific administrator.
THE WORST, especially since the others have to bow down to her!! Being chief judge is nothing special. It's just because of timing that you are. You are not selected by fellow judges or the bar. As soon as you walk in the building, you can feel the tension.
Judge, keep up the good work. Your job isn't easy and I admire your hard work.
Honorable is not the first term that comes to mind when thinking of Rebecca Smith. I fear for our justice system if for as long as she remains a part of it.
I cannot believe this lady is a judge. she does not stand for justice and equality. she speaks to litigants as if they are inhuman. she makes decisions without the consideration of the person's life. the pic of evil
She was the worst judge ever. My lawyer was afraid of her and wouldn't speak. Im hoping she retire pretty soon
I had only ever heard the rumors over the years about how rude, inconsiderate and crazy this judge is. It's obvious, given her ratings here, that I'm not the only one here who is aware of this. The old saying "absolute power corrupts absolutely" definitely applies in this case.
Very thorough, prepared, professional, knowledgeable, considerate, impartial, wise, and fair.
Judge Smith is the worst judge I have appeared before. Most judges try to get decisions right, but understand they can't always be right, and so they usually address counsel with some amount of courtesy. While this attitude is hard to bear when she is right about something, it is extremely difficult on those occasions when she is wrong. She shows no courtesy or respect for litigants or their counsel, and instead shows contempt and is downright mean on occasion. She is, as a number of posters have said, the poster child for why judges should not be appointed for life.
She is tough and not the nicest, but I think she writes sound opinions and has a good grasp of the law.
I have read the submitted comments about her as a judge and it is clear to me that she either does not read the actions submitted to her in civil actions or she does so in a hurry, while sitting in judgment of peoples lives, she is incredibly incompent.
Some years ago I had a case before Judge Smith in which she conducted an evidentiary hearing on a pretrial motion. After 3 hours of testimony, she immediately simply read her opinion into the record, complete with citations. It was obvious that she had made up her mind before the first witness was sworn, and that her opnion had been drafted for her the night before. Win or lose, it was a disgrace that the evidence didn't matter to her decision. She has no patience, and her judicial temperapment is non-exisitent.
I found Judge Smith to be a very fair and well-informed judge. She maintains firm control of her courtroom and expects a lot from the attorneys who practice in front of her, just a good judge should. I find the bulk of these comments to be inconsistent with what I experienced in her courtroom.
This judge is utterly contemptible. It's quite clear that she doesn't read the briefs, the cases, or even the memos written by her clerks before she happens to go up to the bench. I've had everything from motions practices to sentencing decisions in which there is nothing but quiet in the courtroom as she sits ups there forever, perusing the memo before her or the pre-sentencing report, clearly reading it for the first time right before she makes a major decision. Look, I'm a prosecutor. Have been my whole life, will be til the day I die. It's all I ever wanted to do. I'm a rabid conservative on law and order and think til this day that the Warren Court is harming America by letting defendants off. But this judge's approach to the bench is morally disgusting and reprehensible. I've with major criminal trials, again and again, in which she clearly is deciding whether to exclude evidence based on reading her clerk's memo during motions evidence and arguments. Sentencing that could put a human being behind bars for 15 years (and most of them deserve it, but SOME of them deserve something less), and she's reading a pre-sentencing report in the moment, as she decides how many months to sentence a real human being. It's totally disgusting and morally bankrupt. She's a disgrace to the bench. She should be impeached.