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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.
Notable split Fourth Circuit ruling rejects various challenges to federal death sentence
Posted on March 18, 2010The majority of a Fourth Circuit panel today in US v. Caro, No. 07-5 (4th Cir. Mar. 17, 2010) (available here), rejects various challenges to a federal death sentence. And, as detailed in this first paragraph of the dissent by...
Will and should House adopt the crack/powder reform compromise passed by Senate?
Posted on March 18, 2010As detailed in this post, late yesterday the full US Senate unanimously approved legislation to reduce (but not eliminate) the notorious 100:1 ratio in the amount of powder cocaine versus crack cocaine that trigger statutory mandatory minimum sentences...
Lots of interesting little sentencing rulings from the Sixth Circuit
Posted on March 18, 2010This morning brings a lot of notable little sentencing rulings from the Sixth Circuit, all of which practitioners should make sure to review if they have a pending matter related to these issues: Application of the safety-valve guideline sentencing adjustment...
Oklahoma legislature moving forward with capital child rape bill
Posted on March 18, 2010As detailed in this article in Tulsa World, an Oklahoma Senate panel "on Wednesday passed a measure calling for the death penalty for certain sex offenders despite concerns that the legislation runs afoul of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling."...
New Pew report indicates that state prison populations declined in 2009
Posted on March 17, 2010As detailed in this New York Times article and this piece from Stateline, a new report from the folks at Pew indicates that "state prison populations, which have grown for nearly four decades, have begun to dip ... largely because...
"Prosecutors want Nacchio to attend June resentencing"
Posted on March 17, 2010Th title of this post is the headline of this interesting Denver Post piece. Here is how it begins: Federal prosecutors want imprisoned former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio to show up in U.S. District Court in Denver when he...
Seventhe Circuit rules for deadbeat dad (and creates circuit split) on double-counting argument
Posted on March 16, 2010Lots of different federal defendants have contended in lots of different settings that some set of guideline enhancements results in impermissible "double-counting." Though defendants rarely (if ever) prevailing on this kind of argument, one did today in the Seventh Circuit...
New scholarship complaining that reasonableness review is now quite unreasonable
Posted on March 16, 2010Now appearing on SSRN is this notable forthcoming article discussing the mess that is reasonableness review of federal sentences in the circuits. The piece is titled "When ?Reasonableness? is Not so Reasonable: The Need to Restore Clarity to the Appellate...
"Killer executed 1 week after suicide attempt"
Posted on March 16, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this breaking news from the Columbus Dispatch. Here are the essentials: Lawrence Reynolds died from an overdose this morning -- one legally administered by the state of Ohio. The convicted killer...
Georgia Supreme Court upholds sex offender registration for non-sex convictions
Posted on March 16, 2010Thanks to How Appealing, I see that the Supreme Court of Georgia, in Rainer v. Georgia, No. S09A1900 (Ga. Mar. 15, 2010) (available here), yesterday upheld a provision of the state's sex offender registry law that requires the registration of...
Sixth Circuit panel splits over procedural reasonableness and plain error review
Posted on March 16, 2010The Sixth Circuit has a notable and divided discussion of procedural reasonableness and plain error review today in US v. Wallace, No. 07-2230 (6th Cir. Mar. 16, 2010) (available here). The start of Judge McKeague's partial dissent provides a useful....
New academic piece discussing child porn sentencing in an internet age
Posted on March 16, 2010Professor Jelani Jefferson Exum has this notable new piece up on SSRN under the title "Making the Punishment Fit the (Computer) Crime: Rebooting Notions of Possession for the Federal Sentencing of Child Pornography Offenses." Here is the abstract: Sexual exploitation...
Guns don't kill people, people kill people ... after cops sell the guns
Posted on March 15, 2010The cheeky title of this post is inspired by this new story reporting on the backstory of two guns used in two recent high-profile shootings. The news account is headlined "Memphis police, Shelby sheriff's office sold guns used in high-profile...
Reviewing the latest ACCA ruling from SCOTUS
Posted on March 15, 2010The Florida Times-Union has this effective article discussing the Supreme Court's recent ruling in the Johnson ACCA case (basics here). The piece is headlined "U.S. Supreme Court tosses career criminal sentence in Jacksonville case: High court puts shackles on career...
Any pre-game predictions or hopes for today's federal sentencing of Erin Andrews' stalker?
Posted on March 15, 2010As detailed in this new AP article, which is headlined "ESPN's Erin Andrews' stalker to get sentence in LA," a high-profile federal sentencing involving a high-profile victim is scheduled for this afternoon. Here are the basics: The man convicted of....
"The Twilight of the Pardon Power"
Posted on March 15, 2010The title of this post is the title of this article from former US Pardon Attorney Margaret Colgate Love now available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: Throughout our nation?s history, the president?s pardon power has been used with generosity...
Effective NY Times coverage of service as a sentencing factors
Posted on March 15, 2010Writing in the New York Times, John Schwartz has this effective new piece on military service as a sentencing factor. The piece is headlined "Defendants Fresh From War Find Service Counts in Court," and here are excerpts: At the federal...
"More States Rethinking Life Sentences for Teens"
Posted on March 15, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this new piece in The National Law Journal. Here is how it gets started: Their lawyers have long urged juries to give juvenile defendants a second chance. Now a growing number...
Ohio ready to try again to get condemned killer to death chamber
Posted on March 15, 2010As detailed in this AP article, which is headlined "Ohio Tries For 3rd Time To Execute Inmate," Ohio is slated to try again to execute Lawrence Reynolds who was convicted of killing a 67-year-old widow in 1994. Here is why...
"Prison-reform bills would save money, improve public safety"
Posted on March 15, 2010The title of this post is the subheading of this notable editorial from my own (unsually conservative) Columbus Dispatch. Here are excerpts: [Proposed legislative] reform promises to save the state $29 million a year, alleviate some of the dangerous crowding...
Georgia still struggling to pay for death penalty cases old and new
Posted on March 14, 2010This notable AP report, which is headlined "Georgia public defender system still reeling from Nichols case," highlights the high and tangible costs of (poorly?) administering the death penalty: Georgia?s public defender system is still trying to recover its financial footing...
Should showing up for sentencing drunk justify a much tougher sentence?
Posted on March 14, 2010This local story out of Nebraska, which is headlined "Police: Man Drunk At DUI Sentencing: Jason Botos Needed Help Getting Out Of Car," is mostly sad and comical. Then again, it also raises the legal issue in the title of...
Coffee, Tea or Milk: will any new "party" seriously engage with criminal justice issues?
Posted on March 14, 2010I continue to wonder if (and hope that) the new tea party movement will take on the growth of government and government inefficiencies in the operation of massive modern criminal justice systems. And, as highlighted by this lengthy CNN piece,...
Accused murderer of Chelsea King avoided going back to prison after 2007 parole violations
Posted on March 12, 2010This new Los Angeles Times article, which is headlined "Sex offender violated parole but wasn't sent back to prison," reports on the latest controversy in a high-profile murder case: The sex offender charged with murdering Chelsea King violated parole in...
Important and worrisome new multivariate analysis from USSC of post-Booker sentencing patterns
Posted on March 12, 2010I am pleased to see that the US Sentencing Commission has released this potent and important new sentencing data analysis, which is titled "Demographic Differences in Federal Sentencing Practices: An Update of the Booker Report?s Multivariate Analysis...
More details on the Monica Conyers case (and its future?)
Posted on March 12, 2010The Detroit Free Press has this effective report on the past, present and possible future of the criminal case against Monica Conyers (background here). The piece is headlined "A fuming Monica Conyers seeks appeal: Experts say she may not have...
"Michigan board reverses parole for sex offender"
Posted on March 12, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this article from the Toledo Blade, which might have also been reasonably headlined "Chelsea King case has echo effect." Here are the basics: The Michigan parole board has reversed the decision...
"Judging Cruelty"
Posted on March 12, 2010The title of this post is the title of this new and notable Eighth Amendment piece from Meghan Ryan that is now available via SSRN. Here is te abstract: The wisdom of the death penalty has recently come under attack...
Fifth Circuit flags, but dodges, circuit split over advisory guidelines and ex post facto issues
Posted on March 12, 2010Though decided last month, the Fifth Circuit just revised and re-released an interesting little decision, US v. Castillo-Estevez, No. 09-40096 (5th Cir. Feb. 9, 2010) (available here), which discusses one of my "favorite" unresolved post-Booker sentencing issues...
Notable new ACLU suit against private prison in Idaho
Posted on March 12, 2010Thanks to TalkLeft, I saw this notable press release from the ACLU, which is titled "ACLU Lawsuit Charges Idaho Prison Officials Promote Rampant Violence." Here is how the release starts: The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Idaho...
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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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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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