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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.
When can (and how eagerly should) circuits declare procedural problems at sentencing mere harmless error?
Posted on May 11, 2010The question in the title of this post is prompted by a new opinion today from the Fourth Circuit panel in US v. Boulware, No. 09-5125 (4th Cir. May 11, 2010) (available here). Here are parts of the panel's ruling...
Notable new note on the CVRA and victims of financial fraud
Posted on May 11, 2010Thanks to this post at CO, I see that the May 2010 issue of the Minnesota Law Review has this interesting new student note on the ways lower courts are stuggling with aspects of the Crime Victims' Rights Act. The...
Early thoughts and questions about SCOTUS nominee Elena Kagan
Posted on May 10, 2010As detailed via many links at How Appealing, it is soon to be official that President Obama will nominate former Harvard Law School Dean and current Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace retiring SCOTUS Justice John Paul Stevens. Here are...
Will the continued drop in crime rates help Democrats deflect the usual "soft-on-crime" attack?
Posted on May 10, 2010This post's question about the usual crime, punishment and politics dialogue is inspired by this intriguing article in today's Washington Post, which is headlined "Drop in crime might be a boost for O'Malley." Here is how the piece starts: Maryland...
"Rethinking Recidivist Enhancements: The Role of Prior Drug Convictions in Federal Sentencing"
Posted on May 10, 2010The title of this post is the title of this important new article by Sarah Russell just published in the UC Davis Law Review. The article analyzes recidivist enhancements based on prior drug convictions from a policy perspective, and also...
Any thoughts as to who will or should replace Elena Kagan as Solicitor General?
Posted on May 10, 2010In addition to thinking about how the SCOTUS confirmation hearing for SG Kagan are likely to play out, my thoughts today keep wandering toward who might get to be the next Solicitor General. In part because they are both friends...
Another scheduled Ohio execution, another novel complaint about execution protocol by condemned
Posted on May 10, 2010As detailed in this local story, which is headlined "Death Row inmate files new injection argument," Ohio's now-standard monthy execution plans has been met with another Ohio inmate's now-standard novel execution challenge. Here are the details: An Ohio inmate facing...
Notable Eleventh Circuit ruling on a new media criminal justice issue
Posted on May 10, 2010Though not principally a sentencing case, a new opinion today from the Eleventh Circuit addresses a new media issue that is arising more and more frequently in sentencing settings. The ruling in US v. Phaknikone, No. 09-1008 (11th Cir. May...
I am growing confident Elena Kagan will be Prez Obama's SCOTUS nominee...
Posted on May 09, 2010because the folks at SCOTUSblog now have posted here a nearly 10,000-word commentary, which discusses "the most significant aspects of Elena Kagan?s experience and writings as they relate to the Supreme Court [and] various criticisms that have been raised against...
What sentence might victim Sarah Palin urge for her hacker?
Posted on May 09, 2010In this postfrom last weekend, I noted that there were lots of interesting and important computer crime sentencing issues raised by the recent conviction of a college student who hacked into Sarah Palin's Yahoo Mail account in 2008. One of...
"Protecting the public while saving public money"
Posted on May 09, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this op-ed out of Missouri, which is authored by a county-level prosecuting attorney. Here are some notable excerpts: It is a myth that prisons are full of first-time nonviolent criminals. Fewer...
The latest legal plot twists in the Polanski prosecution
Posted on May 08, 2010This New York Times piece, which is headlined "Polanski Transcript Plea Opposed by Prosecutors" provides the latest update on the real-life legal drama that Roman Polanski is helping to create through his various efforts to undermine his prosecution three decades...
Notable (and justified?) attack by old Maryland governor on current governor concerning death penalty
Posted on May 08, 2010I found very interesting this new piece discussing Maryland death penalty issues in today's Washington Post. The piece is headlined "Ehrlich takes issue with O'Malley's delays on death penalty," and here are excerpts: Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has repeatedly...
"Elena Kagan Will Be Obama's Supreme Court Pick: Mike Allen"
Posted on May 07, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this new Huffington Post piece, which reports on an insider account that indicates that this news will be "officially" leaked on Sunday in anticipation of a Monday formal announcement. Solicitor General...
Have the new (proposed) amended federal guidelines has any ripple effect yet?
Posted on May 07, 2010During the terrific sentencing panel yesterday at the Sixth Circuit judicial conference festivities (basics here), I suggested that the new federal guideline amendments released last Friday by the US Sentencing Commission (basics here) could be like a pebble in a...
"Men?s Central Jail is a modern-day medieval dungeon"
Posted on May 07, 2010The title of this post is part of the quote that accompanies this picture from the Los Angeles County jail depicted here and in a series of photos available here from the ACLU of Southern California. Here is the full...
Notable variations in state approaches to juve sex offenders
Posted on May 07, 2010This new AP story, which is headlined "States vary on dealing with youth sex offenders," provides an effective review of the diversity in how different states deal with juvenile sex offenders. Here are excerpts: When Ricky Blackman was 16, he...
Fascinating political corruption federal sentencing to follow in New York
Posted on May 06, 2010I will be again off-line most of today with Sixth Circuit judicial conference festivities (basics here), but when I get back on-line I will be eager to report on what happens today in a high-profile political corruption sentencing scheduled for...
Notable new report complaining about the erosion of criminal intent in federal law
Posted on May 06, 2010As detailed in this NACDL press release, yesterday the Heritage Foundation and NACDL released a big report and recommendations on Capitol Hill concerning federal criminal law. Here are the basics: In a joint press conference this morning on Capitol Hill...
Second Circuit finds procedural problems with re-sentencing after 15-year delay
Posted on May 06, 2010They say bad facts make bad law, but today's ruling from the Second Circuit in US v. Hernandez, No. (2d Cir. May 5, 2010) (available here), strikes me as an example of ugly facts resulting in a very sound sentencing...
NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor charged with rape of teenager in New York
Posted on May 06, 2010This new AP story, which is headlined "Ex-NFL star Lawrence Taylor charged with NY rape," provides the latest sad and disturbing story at the intersection of sports stars and crime. Here are the basics: Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence...
"People who commit crimes do so because of disorderly souls"
Posted on May 06, 2010The title of this post is one line from this lengthy commentary by Eric Simpson, an associate editor of In Communion: The Journal of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship, that appears at The Huffington Post. The piece's is titled "I Changed...
Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference keeping me mostly off-line...
Posted on May 05, 2010but giving me the chance to listen in a big ballroom to a star-studded line-up that includes Justice Stevens, AG Holder, SG Kagan, former SG Clement, and frequent SCOTUS litigators Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Jeff Fisher. Paul Clement's early...
Fourth Circuit uses Booker to support rejection of effort to extend Shepard
Posted on May 05, 2010The Fourth Circuit has an interesting discussion of Booker and its progeny today in US v. Dean, No. 08-4439 (4th Cir. May 5, 2010) (available here), in the course of rejecting a defendant's complaint about judicial fact-finding in the course...
Lengthy split Seventh Circuit panel ruling on ACCA and juve predicates
Posted on May 04, 2010A split Seventh Circuit panel has an interesting (and quite lengthy) discussion of proper application of the Armed Career Criminal Act and of use of juvenile prior to trigger ACCA's increased sentenced. The majority opinion in Welch v. US, No....
"Senators Ask, Should Financial Fraud Mean More Prison Time?"
Posted on May 04, 2010The title of this post is the headline from this new report at The BLT on a Senate hearing that took place today. Here are the basics: Amid the flurry of securities-fraud investigations, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee today is considering...
"State Court Standards of Review for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms"
Posted on May 04, 2010The title of this post is the title of this lengthy (and newly revised) piecefrom David Kopel and Clayton Cramer available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: Cases on the right to arms in state constitutions can provide useful guidance...
Illinois on the verge of banning all sex offenders from all public parks
Posted on May 04, 2010This local story from Illinois, which is headlined "Sex offender public park ban bill goes to governor," reports on the latest state restriction on sex offenders in the works. Here are the basics: Passed by state lawmakers, legislation that would...
Norway's new prison sound far more pleasant than punishing
Posted on May 04, 2010As detailed in this new Time magazine piece, which is headlined "Norway Builds the World's Most Humane Prison," the folks in the Land of the Midnight Sun have a different vision of incarceration than do folks in the Land of...
Former Qwest CEO Nacchio, in court to waive right to be in court, says street folks better than suite folks
Posted on May 04, 2010As detailed in this prior post, former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio was ordered last month to appear in federal court in order to be able to effectively waive his right to appear in federal court for his resentencing. This new...
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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...

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...








