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Sentencing Law and Policy 
News, issues, commentary and provides resources related to sentencing law and policy.
Post Frequency: 77.7/day Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 10:54:24 Recent Entries: 4815
By Douglas A. Berman
Go to Sentencing Law and Policy, find other Criminal Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
Lots of good reading around the blogsphere
Posted on May 21, 2010A busy week with travel and grading commitments has largely kept me from making the usual blog rounds this week. But here are a list of a few old faithfuls that have lots of good reading for criminal justice fans...
"Fast-Track Sentencing Disparity: Rereading Congressional Intent to Resolve the Circuit Split"
Posted on May 20, 2010The title of this post is the title of an important new Comment by Thomas Gorman that now appears in the University of Chicago Law Review (and is available here via SSRN). This Comment throughtfully engages with what I view...
Interesting Sixth Circuit decision on rehabilition as a federal sentencing factor
Posted on May 20, 2010The Sixth Circuit handed down this morning an interesting little panel opinion in US v. Jimenez, No. 08-6435 (6th Cir. May 20, 2010) (available here), which discusses some interesting post-Booker sentencing issues. Here is how the opinion starts: Defendant Blanca...
Would Jean Valjean get a departure or variance in the federal sentencing system?
Posted on May 20, 2010The question in the title of this post with the reference to the fictional thief made famous in Victor Hugo?s classic Les Miserables is inspired by this local news story from the heartland. The piece is headlined "Hoosier says robbery...
Florida Supreme Court reverses death sentence on proportionality review
Posted on May 20, 2010As detailed in this local AP story, Florida's "state Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of a crack-bingeing killer who beat his girlfriend to death with a baseball bat in the Florida Panhandle." Here are more of the details...
Originalist Graham crackers: would the Eighth Amendment ratifiers really be indifferent about LWOP?
Posted on May 19, 2010Having now had a chance to read and reflect on Justice Thomas's dissent in the Graham Eighth Amendment case, I am back to using the tasty term Graham crackers to flag what I view to be the really deep and...
"Why Care About Mass Incarceration?"
Posted on May 19, 2010The question in the title of this post is the title of this book review by James Forman, Jr. recently published by the Michigan Law Review. The piece reviews Paul Butler's recent work, Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of...
Should sentencing fans be excited about voters "throwing the bums out" of DC?
Posted on May 19, 2010The results of yesterday's various elections can and will be spun in many ways, though the essential anti-incumbent reality has to be part of any spin. And, given what I view as the extremely poor modern sentencing records of all...
Did the Chief initially have (but then lose) Justice Alito's vote in Graham?
Posted on May 19, 2010As my prior posts highlight, I am intrigued and taken by many aspects of the substance of Chief Justice Roberts' concurrence in the Graham Eighth Amendment case. But, in re-reading this opinion today, I was also intrigued and taken by...
Utah murderer who selected firing squad as execution method to get (high-profile) commutation hearing
Posted on May 19, 2010As detailed in this local story, which is headlined "Board of Pardons agrees to hold hearing for Ronnie Lee Gardner," spotlights why the selection of a firing squad by a Utah killer might have been a shrewd strategic decision. Here...
"I'm a criminal and so are you"
Posted on May 19, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this terrific new commentary on CNN.com from my Moritz College of Law colleague Michelle Alexander. Here is part of the editorial set-up for the piece and some snippets of the piece...
US Sentencing Commission announces big public hearing on mandatory minimums
Posted on May 19, 2010As detailed via this little notice, the United States Sentencing Commission has scheduled a public hearing for all day next Thursday at the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building in Washington, D.C. As the notice explains, the "purpose of the public...
Ponzi schemer suggests European losses should be excluded from sentencing calculations
Posted on May 19, 2010This local story about a federal hearing from Tennessee highlights some interesting sentencing arguments being made about a ponzi schemer. Here are highlights: Convicted Gatlinburg swindler Dennis Bolze will testify today in a hearing to determine what factors should be...
Hail to the Chief and the fascinating future of Eighth Amendment jurisprudence
Posted on May 18, 2010As I indicated in my Graham crackers post yesterday, I see Chief Justice Roberts' concurrence in Graham to be fascinating on many levels (full Graham opinion is here). Let me explain a bit more, and then in essence give the...
"Some Reflections on Conservative Politics and the Limits of the Criminal Sanction"
Posted on May 18, 2010The title of this post is the title of this interesting piece on SSRN from J. Richard Broughton, which I came across only last night (even though it was posted more than a month ago). Obviously, the piece was written...
Interesting ineffective assistance ruling from the Sixth Circuit
Posted on May 18, 2010A Sixth Circuit panel has an intriguing ruling on an ineffective assistance of counsel issue today in US v. Munoz, No. 09-5357 (6th Cir. May 18, 2010) (available here). Here is how it gets started: This case reaches us in...
Fasincating on-line discussion of Graham ruling from the New York Times
Posted on May 18, 2010I am pleased and intrigued to see that the New York Times has this spectial on-line section with four astute criminal justice commentators providing their views on the Supreme Court's work yesterday in Graham. The heading for this section is...
"Death penalty kills the budget"
Posted on May 18, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this effective commentary making the financial case against bringing the death penalty back to Massachusetts. Here are snippets: Among the 869 sundry amendments to the Massachusetts House budget bill is a...
Split Ohio parole board recommends clemency for next murderer in line for Ohio death chamber
Posted on May 18, 2010As detailed in this local article, the "Ohio Parole Board said today that a Cincinnati man who killed his long-time girlfriend in an alcohol-induced rage should not be executed." Here are the details: By a 4-3 vote, the board recommended...
Somali pirate takes a federal plea to hijacking charge to limit sentencing exposure
Posted on May 18, 2010As detailed in this USA Today article, the "Somali man who helped commandeer the cargo ship Maersk Alabama last year has pleaded guilty in federal court in New York." Here is why: Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse avoided life in prison after...
Graham crackers: reflecting on Eighth Amendment rules versus standard and subconstitutional echoes
Posted on May 17, 2010Having now had a chance to read and reflect on all the opinions in Graham, I have created a new topical archive entitled "Assessing Graham and its aftermath." Because there is so much to the opinions in Graham, and because...
The political and PR benefits for SCOTUS (and others) from Comstock and Graham coming down together
Posted on May 17, 2010Anyone who thinks the Justices of the Supreme Court are not attuned to issues of politics and public relations needs to explain to me why the anti-sex-offender ruling in Comstock just happened to be handed down on the same day...
Doesn't the logic and language of Graham put juve LWOP for "lesser" homicides on thin ice?
Posted on May 17, 2010The opinion for the Court in Grahamstates at the outset and stresses in various settings that the ruling is directly applicable only to nonhomicide offenses. Nevertheless, the logic and language of the opinion puts special emphasis on the diminished culpability...
Some notable quotables from the opinion of the Court in Graham
Posted on May 17, 2010Based on my first read of the Supreme Court's Graham opinion, I have a feeling I will be reading the opinion dozens, if not hundreds, of more times; in Graham, there is so much "there there." Here are just a...
Other than the holdings, what are the biggest "stories" of the Graham and Comstock rulings?
Posted on May 17, 2010I have barely skimmed the Graham and Comstock rulings, and already I have so many thoughts about the holdings and their potential consequences (especially regarding future non-capital Eighth Amendment litigation). But, before going too blog crazy, I am planning to...
Can and should Florida's Governor commute the sentence of Joe Sullivan in light of the SCOTUS Graham ruling?
Posted on May 17, 2010I will have lots and lots of coming commentary of the Graham ruling ASAP, but I want to start the discussion with some debate over the likely and appropriate fate of Joe Sullivan's sentence. As this prior post briefly explains,...
SCOTUS finds Eighth Amendment problem with juve LWOP in Graham
Posted on May 17, 2010The Supreme Court has handed down its biggest Eighth Amendment ruling in non-capital cases in a long time, and it is a victory for the defendant. Here is what SCOTUSblog has to say so far: The Court, in an opinion...
SCOTUS upholds broad federal power to commit sex offenders in Comstock
Posted on May 17, 2010As I had expected, this morning brings some criminal justice action from the Supreme Court. Here is an early SCOTUS report on one big case already handed down: We have the first opinion: 08-1224, US v. Comstock.... The Court upholds...
Recapping my coverage of today's significant SCOTUS action
Posted on May 17, 2010Since I have done a lot of posts (too many?) on today's significant sentencing rulings by the Supreme Court, I thought it might be useful in this final post of the day to recap my coverage via these links: On...
Strong arguments for second-look sentencing reforms from SCOTUS concurrences
Posted on May 17, 2010My chief gripe with all LWOP sentences as a policy matter, especially now that modern presidents and governors have largely refused to give serious consideration to nearly all prison commutation requests, is that these sentences essentially pronounce and encrust a...
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I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
I was fired on June 3, 2002 in Massachusetts because I reported discriminatory behavior by the employer towards a particular nationality. In July I filed a discrimination/retaliation complaint against the employer with t
It seem sin your case that the fact you filed the complaint prior to being dissa...
Does failure to provide health insurance benefits at the time promised constitute harm to the employee?
Yes. Failure to provide health insurance benefits is a violation of Labor Law ob...
My job requires me to drive bank deposits up to two times a day using my own vehicle and gas. Although not too far, can should I be receiving compensation? One deposit run is required daily by company policy, but the man
you should be getting a mileage comp. I own my own company and I pay my employee...
Can i sue my employer for breach of Contract?
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