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Criminal Law

Sentencing Law and Policy

News, issues, commentary and provides resources related to sentencing law and policy.
By Douglas A. Berman

Post Frequency: 77.7/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 10:54:24

SCOTUS rules in Pepper, again stressing sentencing discretion after Booker

Posted on March 02, 2011
The Supreme Court handed down its biggest federal sentencing case of the Term to date, ruling in the Peppercase about the consideration of post-sentencing rehabilitation at a federal resentencing proceeding. The full opinion is available at this link, and here...

Will Pepper prompt many more federal sentencing judges to focus on post-offense rehabilitation?

Posted on March 02, 2011
The significant federal sentencing ruling by the Supreme Court today in Pepper (basics here) is only technically concerned with whether district judges are permitted to consider evidence of a defendant's post-sentencing rehabilitation at a re-sentencing following an appellate reversal of...

Are death penalty fans pleased or disappointed when a death row defendant dies of natural causes?

Posted on March 01, 2011
The question in the title of this post is prompted by this local news item from California, headlined "Hammer murderer is latest to die naturally on Death Row." Here is the background: You'd think the biggest cause of death on...

"You Can Have Sex With Them; Just Don't Photograph Them"

Posted on March 01, 2011
The title of this post is the headline of this notable commentary by Radley Balko at Reason, which carried the sub-heading "A former cop's 15-year prison sentence illustrates the absurdity of federal child porn laws." Here is how it gets...

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New ACS piece on the right to counsel and public defender workloads

Posted on March 01, 2011
Continuing its strong coverage of indigent defense issues, the American Constitution Society has released another issue brief on this critcal topic. The document is avaiable via this ACS page, and here is a description: ACS is pleased to distribute ?When...

Three more Ohio execution dates set by state supreme court

Posted on March 01, 2011
As detailed in this local article, the "Ohio Supreme Court today set three new execution dates, bringing the total scheduled this year to 10." Here are more of the details: If all 10 are carried out, it would be the...

"Juvenile Incarceration and the Pains of Imprisonment"

Posted on March 01, 2011
The title of this post is the title of this interesting-looking new article by Professors Jeffrey Fagan and Aaron Kupchik, which is now available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: As a result of the movement to criminalize youth crime...

"Beyond Rehabilitation: A New Theory of Indeterminate Sentencing"

Posted on March 01, 2011
The title of this post is the title of this great looking new piece by Professor Michael M. O'Hear. here is the abstract: Indeterminate sentencing -- that is, sentencing offenders to a range of potential imprisonment with the actual release...

Second Circuit affirms conviction and sentence of creator of morphed child porn

Posted on February 28, 2011
The Second Circuit today handed down an interesting and notable child porn ruling in US v. Hotaling, No. 09-3935 (2d Cir. Feb. 28, 2011) (available here), which gets started this way: Defendant-Appellant, John Hotaling, appeals from a judgment of the...

"A Critical Appraisal of the Department of Justice?s New Approach to Medical Marijuana"

Posted on February 28, 2011
The title of this post is the title of this new paper by Rob Mikos now available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Obama Administration has embarked upon a much-heralded shift in federal policy toward medical marijuana. Eschewing the...

SCOTUS limits reach of confrontation clause in Michigan v. Bryant

Posted on February 28, 2011
Because the Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause has been held not to apply at sentencing, today's SCOTUS ruling about the reach of the clause today in Michigan v. Bryant is not technically an issue of sentencing law and policy. Nevertheless, the...

SCOTUS to finally consider whether "cocaine base" means more than crack

Posted on February 28, 2011
The Supreme Court this morning is hearing a sentencing case, DePierre v. United States, in which the Justices seem finally willing to resolve a long-debated issue of whether Congress was only referencing crack or other versions of cocaine when it...

Sentencing memo for former federal judge urges probation and stresses mental health issues

Posted on February 28, 2011
This local article, headlined "Atlanta Fed Judge Busted With Drugs and Stripper Suffered Depression and Brain Damage, Sentencing Memorandum Says," reviews some notable sentencing arguments being made by a high-profile criminal defendant. Here are details: Ex-Federal Judge Jack Camp is...

Washington Post editorial on "Repeat offenders" and best practices

Posted on February 28, 2011
This morning's Washington Post includes this interesting editorial headlined "Repeat offenders." Here are excerpts: The numbers are staggering. Some 5.1 million individuals are out on probation or parole. If national trends hold up, roughly 40 percent of them will be...

Interesting debate in Nevada over preparation of presentence reports

Posted on February 27, 2011
Rarely does the preparation of presentence reports garner much attention from the media or the legal academy. For that reason and others, I found really notable this new piece from Nevada headlined "Judges criticize plan on pre-sentence reports." Here is...

Former prisoners as consultants to prison-bound white-collar offenders

Posted on February 26, 2011
This interesting Chicago Tribune piece, headline "Ex-cons offer prison primers for soon-to-be incarcerated execs," reports on the "handful of consultants nationwide who gear their [sentencing and prison advice] services toward a white-collar population that includes mortgage fraudsters, tax evaders and...

"Chivalry is Not Dead: Murder, Gender, and the Death Penalty"

Posted on February 25, 2011
The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper available via SSRN by Steven Shatz and Naomi Shatz. Here is the abstract: Chivalry -- that set of values and code of conduct for the medieval knightly...

Feds prosecuting active NY advocate of jury nullification

Posted on February 25, 2011
Today's New York Times has this really interesting article about a really notable federal prosecution of a really interesting proponent of jury nullification. The piece is headlined "Jury Nullification Advocate Faces Indictment," and here are excerpts: [I]t was not his...

Breaking news on state killing: there is now an app for that!

Posted on February 24, 2011
I received via e-mail yesterday this notable news from the Death Penalty Information Center about being able to follow the death penalty while "on the go": The Death Penalty Information Center is pleased to offer a new mobile application for...

Problems with kidney transplant plans for Mississippi sisters given early prison release

Posted on February 24, 2011
Regular readers likely recall the sentencing story from late last year, blogged here, concerning Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's decision to grant early release from prison to two sisters serving unusually long sentences for armed robbery. What made the story especially...

Two notable case notes in latest Harvard Law Review

Posted on February 24, 2011
The February 2011 issue of the Harvard Law Review includes brief notes on two significant federal circuit court rulings that have both gotten considerable attention on this blog: Second Circuit Holds Within-Guidelines Child Pornography Sentence Procedurally and Substantively Unreasonable...

Prisoner serving life who murdered guard in Washington saying he should get death penalty

Posted on February 24, 2011
This local story out of Washington, which is headlined "Documents: Inmate wants death for killing correctional officer," provides an interesting bit of extra information about a high-profile murder case. Here are the details: Byron Scherf, the inmate who has confessed...

Local DA in Georgia makes pitch against sentencing guidelines and for more judicial discretion

Posted on February 24, 2011
Everyone familiar with sentencing debates in the federal system knows the usual terms of modern debates over sentencing guidelines and judicial discretion: federal prosecutors are typically arguing for the federal guidelines to have more bite, while defense attorneys are typically...

"Judge tells Lindsay Lohan plea deal will mean jail"

Posted on February 23, 2011
The title of this post is the headline of this AP report on the latest development in the theft charges pending against Lindsay Lohan. Here are the basics: A judge told Lindsay Lohan on Wednesday he would sentence her to...

Argument transcript in SCOTUS sentence modification case Freeman...

Posted on February 23, 2011
is now available at this link. I hope to find time to read and comments on this transcript before too long. UPDATE: A too-quick review of the transcripts reveals that all the Justices (save, of course, the always silent Justice...

Border vigilante who engineered double murder sentenced to death in Arizona

Posted on February 23, 2011
As detailed in this CNN article, which is headlined "Jury decides on death penalty for woman who headed vigilante squad," a high-profile murder trial culminated in a high-profile death sentence yesterday in Arizona. Here are the details: Arizona jurors decided...

SCOTUS considers crack sentence reduction authority and reverses another Ninth Circuit habeas decision

Posted on February 23, 2011
Today's Supreme Court action includes some criminal justice work that ought to interest sentencing fans. This morning brings oral argument in Freeman v. US, which concerns eligibility for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. � 3582(c)(2) when as sentence was...

"Conservatives must police bottom line on criminal justice"

Posted on February 22, 2011
The title of this post is the headline of this opinion piece authored by Grover Norquist, which appeared in the Orange County Register over the weekend. Here is how it starts and ends: Conservatives pride themselves on relentlessly questioning government...

Virginia struggle with costs of sex offender civil commitment

Posted on February 22, 2011
The Washington Post has this lenthy new article on sex offender civil commitment headlined "Cost to keep sexual offenders in check is escalating for Virginia." Here are excerpts: Virginia launched its program to keep sexual predators locked up once their...

"Money is gone, but Proposition 36's drug-treatment mandate remains"

Posted on February 22, 2011
The title of this post is the headline of this very interesting piece from the Oakland Tribune concerning California drug sentencing laws and programs. Here are excerpts: County officials who administer the state's treatment-not-jail program for certain drug offenders are...

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