The news that 32 people were arrested and most carted off to jail, accused of causing a disruption in Judge Sam Sánchez's Taos courtroom is unsettling.
Disrupting the court is uncalled for, but a mass arrest, with no distinguishing between guilty or innocent, is a miscarriage of justice. One deputy told The Taos News that three or four audience members appeared to be responsible for the outbursts.

In this case, much of the courtroom audience had come from Taos Pueblo to support a relative asking for his sentence to be reconsidered.

That person was Dominic Bau, found guilty of raping a 13-year-old relative in 2007. His 12-year sentence doesn't seem overly severe given the ugliness of his crime — to which he pleaded guilty. But even the most guilty of criminals have family who love them, and both victim and defendant had supporters behind them in the courtroom.

Those spectators were out of hand for much of the hearing, according to Judge Sánchez himself. The spectacle increased after the judge announced that he would not reconsider the original sentence.

Good for Judge Sánchez for attempting to control his court. It's his job to keep a handle on the proceedings. However, it seems that a judicious person — a characteristic much desired in a judge — doesn't use a hammer when a chisel will do.

Arresting these people — six were over age 60 — and sending them to sit in jail wastes both time and money, diverting resources better spent on true criminals and painting all audience members as equally guilty.

Worse for Sánchez, the arrests expose him as a judge who lacks control of his courtroom. He let the situation disintegrate.

At the first sign of noise, single out the shouters and toss them. Clear the courtroom if that doesn't work. Issue contempt of court citations and fines. Those could have been handed out in the courtroom without trucking anyone to jail.

Fortunately, the state Supreme Court issued an order Friday afternoon allowing the accused to be released — without that intervention, they would have faced days behind bars because of the weekend.

Mass arrests say more about the judge than the spectators in the courtroom. Plain and simple, Sánchez lost control.