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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.
Comments from EJI about the Graham decision and Joe Sullivan's case
Posted on May 17, 2010Among the folks who likely should get significant "credit" for today's landmark Eighth Amendment ruling in Graham are Bryan Stevenson and the other folks at the Equal Justice Initiative who have kept a bright spotlight on the juve LWOP issue...
Interesting data and discussion about guns in DC roughly two years after Heller
Posted on May 17, 2010With Graham and Comstock now decided, I think the biggest constitutional law case still pending for con law and criminal justice fans is probably the McDonald Second Amendment incorporation case. (There are a bunch of other significant SCOTUS sentencing cases...
"The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2010"
Posted on May 17, 2010The title of this post is the title of this interesting new report coming today from the International Harm Reduction Association. Here is how this report is summarized via the IHRA website: The International Harm Reduction Association released a study...
Neal Katyal now serving as Acting Solicitor General
Posted on May 17, 2010This post from SCOTUSblog today provides a notable update to the always-important question of who is the US Government's litigator-in-chief: U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan, awaiting Senate review of her nomination to the Supreme Court, notified the Court on Monday...
Some commentary from around the blogsphere on Comstock and Graham
Posted on May 17, 2010Cruising around the blogsphere has reveals this array of early commentary on the Supreme Court's criminal justice work in Comstock and Graham today: From Concurring Opinions, "Graham v. Florida ? Collapse of Capital-Noncapital Distinction?" From Crime & Consequences, "Graham: The...
"More Mentally Ill Persons Are in Jails and Prisons Than Hospitals"
Posted on May 16, 2010The title of this post is the headline of a notable and important new report issued this week by the National Sheriffs' Association. (Hat tip to a helpful reader who forwarded me this item from the Houston Chronicle.) This press...
New blog with "open source sentencing pleadings" for white-collar cases
Posted on May 16, 2010An old colleague I have come to know from various sentencing settings, Benson Weintraub, has launched this new blog to provide open source access to his "favorite presentence and appellate pleadings" as well as "legal and social commentary on white-collar...
Fascinating fight over victims' rights and defense representation in child porn sentencing
Posted on May 16, 2010This piece in the Detroit News, which is headlined "Lawyer may face sanctions in child pornography case," reports on a fascinating conflict between a judge and a defense lawyer over the process surrounding the role of a victim in a...
Potent(?) pace of executions in Ohio starting to produce pushback
Posted on May 15, 2010This new article from the Columbus Dispatch, which is headlined "Death Row cases should be reviewed, justice says," highlights that some prominent folks are starting to take note and lament Ohio's recent record on administering the death penalty. Here are...
"Heller, McDonald and Murder: Testing the More Guns, More Murder Thesis"
Posted on May 15, 2010The title of this post is the title of this piece on SSRN that is especially timely while we all await the Supreme Court's next ruling in the Second Amendment. Here is the abstract: We examine several aspects of the...
Shouldn't we try to make it is easy for sex offenders to know of legal restrictions?
Posted on May 15, 2010The question in the title of this post is prompted by this interesting Washington Post piece, which is headlined "Sex offenders, advocates push for Va. law notice." Here are excerpts: When Robert Beckwith was preparing to leave federal prison after...
Annual national USSC seminar only a month away
Posted on May 14, 2010As detailed on this webpage, the US Sentencing Commission's "Annual National Seminar on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines" is now just a month away. This event, which runs June 16-18 in New Orleans and at which I have the honor of...
"New Victim Accuses Roman Polanski of 'Sexual Abuse'"
Posted on May 14, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this remarkable new story adding another remarkable layer to the seemingly never-ending Roman Polanski sentencing saga. Here is how the piece starts: A British actress who starred in a Roman Polanski...
Why the Second Circuit's Dorvee reasonableness ruling could (and should) be so significant
Posted on May 14, 2010The New York Law Journal has this new piece, headlined "2nd Circuit Faults Pornography Enhancements, Vacates Sentence," which reports on the significant Dorvee reasonableness ruling from earlier this week (basics here). Because it only covers the basis, this NLYJ piece...
Might a Justice Kagan speed or slow Justice Ginsburg's decision to retire?
Posted on May 14, 2010I am still not seeing much of unique interest for sentencing fans in this week's Kagan coverage (though I have not been able to keep up with even a portion of all the Kagan links at How Appealing). In any...
Texas jury returns life sentence based on unconvicted and uncharged conduct
Posted on May 14, 2010A helpful reader forwarded to me this fascinating local sentencing story out of Texas. The report is headlined "Prieto gets life in prison for beating," and here are the details: Enrique Prieto could have walked out the courthouse door a...
The latest buzz on who might replace Kagan as Solicitor General
Posted on May 13, 2010Tony Mauro has this notable new piece in the National Law Journal headlined "Jockeying Begins for Solicitor General Job." Here are excerpts: Just days after President Barack Obama announced he will nominate Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, speculation is...
"War and Peace in the Jury Room: How Capital Juries Reach Unanimity"
Posted on May 13, 2010The title of this post is the title of this new article on SSRN from Scott Sundby. Here is the abstract: Using data from the Capital Jury Project, this article takes a close look inside the jury room at the...
Ohio completes yet another uneventful one-drug lethal injection execution
Posted on May 13, 2010As detailed in this local story, Ohio was able to complete with out obvious incident yet another execution this morning using its one-drug protocol: After playing the keyboard and crying in his cell, Michael Beuke -- the Hamilton County man...
A gendered execessive force case of note as we reflect on gendered judging
Posted on May 13, 2010Perhaps because I am married to a female Princetonian, I am especially focused on how gender issues (as well as elitism issues) are starting to play out in this debate over the nomination of SG Elena Kagan to the Supreme...
AP reviews evidence of 40 years of failure of the "war on drugs."
Posted on May 13, 2010The AP has this long and effective new piece headlined, "US drug war has met none of its goals." Here are excerpts: After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of...
Big changes to the sex offender registration provisions of the Adam Walsh Act proposed
Posted on May 13, 2010A helpful reader forwarded to me an e-mail that summarizes big news concerning federal sex offender registration laws coming from DOJ today. Here is the text of that e-mail: You will be interested to know that this morning the U.S....
A failed effort to fake past military service to get a lenient federal sentence
Posted on May 12, 2010This local article from Vermont, which is headlined "Phony military records surface in Burlington drug sentencing" reports on a remarkable federal sentencing proceeding from earlier this week. Here are the details: Leniency in sentencing was denied Monday to a Burlington...
"Stemming the Tide of Postconviction Waivers"
Posted on May 12, 2010The title of this post is the title of a new ABA Criminal Justice column by Alan Ellis and Todd Busset, which I am able to provide for downloading below. Here is how this important and timely column starts and...
Gender bias attack on the death penalty rejected in Casey Anthony case
Posted on May 12, 2010I have not been closely following the seemingly-all-too-high-profile criminal case against Casey Anthony in Florida, but this news storyconcerning recent developments in the case seemed blog-worthy. The CBS News piece is headlined "Casey Anthony Can Face Death Penalty, Judge Rules,"...
Split New York high court ruling spotlights key post-Padilla issues
Posted on May 12, 2010In an interesting split opinion in NY v Gravino, No. 77 (NY May 11, 2010) (available here), the New York Court of Appeals rejected yesterday claims about the import of a defendant failing to know certain significant "collateral" consequences of...
Another notable lethal injection opinion from the Sixth Circuit on Ohio's new one-drug protocol
Posted on May 12, 2010As regular readers know well, Ohio's recent experience with the administration of capital punishment has become a monthly saga of challenges to Ohio's new execution protocol, followed by appeals, stays denied, and then sometimes notable opinions approving or lamenting Ohio's...
Anyone note anything notable (or dealing with criminal justice) in the Kagan converage?
Posted on May 11, 2010Over at all the biggest law blog spots like How Appealing and SCOTUSblog and The Volokh Conspiracy have more links and analysis concerning President Obama's nomination of SG Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court than any human could possibly process....
"For Crime, Is Anatomy Destiny?"
Posted on May 11, 2010The question in the title of this post is the headline of this interesting new piece from the New York Times. Here are excerpts: Poverty, greed, anger, jealousy, pride, revenge. These are the usual suspects when it comes to discussing...
Major reasonableness ruling from Second Circuit in child porn downloading case
Posted on May 11, 2010The Second Circuit handed down this morning a must-read panel opinion in US v. Dorvee, No. 09-0648 (2d Cir. May 11, 2010) (available here), which a helpful reader described to me as "arguably the most significant one decided by any...
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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?
i would suggest you get professional advice
from what you have put here yo...
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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?
i would suggest you get professional advice
from what you have put here yo...
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