Generally sentencing judges in states have broad discretion to impose either concurrent or consecutive sentencing. However, some states have laws that provide when a judge can impose concurrent or consecutive sentencing. Some of these laws provide discretion to the judges to decide this important issue. In some states, if a defendant is convicted of a violent felony and another offense, the judge must sentence the defendant consecutively. The rationale is that the defendant deserves a longer sentence and the public needs protection from this violent felony offender.