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Different perspectives on federal sentencing from different vantage points

By Douglas A. Berman

As noted in prior posts here and here, this past week the US Sentencing Commission held a public hearing at Stanford Law School.  This USSC webpage showing the agenda and the list of impressive persons who testified now also has links to some of the submitted written testimony.  Though I am still reading through some of this written testimony, I was struck ? though I suppose not really surprised) ? by the different points of emphasis in the testimony of Ninth Circuit Judge Richard Tallman and the testimony of Hawaii District Judge Susan Oki Mollway.  Judge Tallman's testimony starts and ends with concerns about sentencing disparities, and he even states that, after Booker, "perhaps judges now have too much discretion."  In sharp contrast, Judge Mollway's testimony is focused on guidelines that seem unduly severe and the fact that mandatory minimum sentences limit judicial discretion and "are frequently unreasonable...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on May 30, 2009 (boomark / email).