Rare: A Really Honest Judge

From the Kingman Daily Miner: An accused murderer who has been prone to courtroom outbursts was deemed competent to stand trial Tuesday at a hearing the defendant did not attend.
Robert John Adkins, 52, stands accused of beating to death his roommate Michael Sudkamp, to whom he was a caregiver, on Christmas Day in 2013....
(Judge Steven) Conn said he was torn over the issue, wondering out loud what harm it would do to send him to the state hospital "to make him a nice person," particularly when Adkins poor behavior could influence a jury's verdict.
"But then I think, shouldn't we do the same for more people? We have a lot of people who don't have mental illness. They're just jerks."
He also said once the case gets back on track that Adkins might cooperate with Rideout.
That doesn't mean he expects the defense attorney and Adkins to walk into court "holding hands and singing 'Kumbaya.' Should I take him to a hair stylist and buy him clothes? Should I buy him a copy of 'How to Win Friends and Influence People?'"
A few moments later, Conn said society might be better off in general "if we just medicated the hell out of everybody and eliminated all the peaks and valleys and we'd all be better husbands and wives."
He found Adkins competent and set a Feb. 3 trial date.
http://kdminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=797&ArticleID=64241
A judge that doesn't sugar coat it and is brutally honest about life and a sense of humor.