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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.
"Judicial Discrection: A Look Back and a Look Forward Five Years After Booker"
Posted on February 18, 2010The title of this post is the title of this terrific symposium about federal sentencing law in which I am participating today. Though sponsored by the University of Utah, I am actually about to head to DC to participate in...
Oklahoma legilsature considering the creation of a meth registry
Posted on February 18, 2010This new AP article, which is headlined "Bill calls for creation of meth registry similar to registry for convicted sex offenders," reports on a new registry idea being discussed in Oklahoma: A House panel has passed a bill to create...
A telling attack on mandating ignition interlocks for all drunk drivers
Posted on February 18, 2010A local Tennessee paper has this interesting new commentary which is headlined "MADD's interlock proposal lumps all drinkers in same category." The piece discusses and attacks a legislative proposal in Tennessee that would call for a specific sentencing response to...
"State Court Standards of Review for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms"
Posted on February 18, 2010The title of this post is the title of this timely piece now on SSRN from David Kopel and Clayton Cramer. For those of us thinking about how the Second Amendment should be applied after Heller (and especially if/when the...
Lots of good reading in NYU Center's "Prosecution Notes"
Posted on February 17, 2010I am pleased to report on the publication of a cool new document from the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at NYU School of Law. Specifically, available here is the Center's first newsletter, "Prosecution Notes," which includes lots...
Does everyone agree the guideline sentence recommended for mass credit card hacker "ludicrous"?
Posted on February 17, 2010The question in the title of this post is prompted by this new (and new age?) sentencing story, which is headlined "Hacker Sentenced To Prison for Credit Card Scam." Here are the interesting basics: A San Francisco man who had...
"Harsh Punishment Backfires, Researcher Says"
Posted on February 17, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this piece from About.com's Crime/Punishment section. Here is how it gets started: The current prison system puts too much emphasis on harsh punishment and not enough on rehabilitation and simply doesn't...
Split Ninth Circuit affirms as substantively reasonable a probation sentence for "big time thief?
Posted on February 17, 2010Distracted by another(!) snow day yesterday, I missed the very significant split sentencing ruling handed down by a Ninth Circuit panel in US v. Edwards, No. 08-30055 (9th Cir. Feb. 16, 2010) (available here). Here is how the majority opinion...
First exoneration in North Carolina thanks to state's innocence commission
Posted on February 17, 2010A helpful reader sent me this breaking local news piece from North Carolina which is headlined "Innocence panel sets Greg Taylor free." Here are the basic details: Three judges voted today to give Greg Taylor his life back. The judges...
"Plea Bargaining in the Shadow of Terror"
Posted on February 16, 2010The title of this post is the partial title of this timely new piece on SSRN by Lucian Dervan. The full title is "Plea Bargaining in the Shadow of Terror: Plea Bargaining During the War on Terrorism and the Dual...
Pope joins rabbis in urging Florida Governor to commute murderer's death sentence
Posted on February 16, 2010As detailed in this new local article, which is headlined "Pope calls for mercy for killer Martin Grossman as execution nears," an array of religious voices are now urging Florida Governr Charlie Crist to give condemned murderer Martin Grossman a...
New York Times again a little off editorializing on "Justice Kennedy on Prisons"
Posted on February 16, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this editorial appearing in today's New York Times. Here are excerpts: Justice Anthony Kennedy spoke out against excessive prison sentences this month in California, criticizing the state?s deeply misguided three-strikes law...
Lots worth reading in the latest issue of "Justice Research and Policy"
Posted on February 16, 2010Via e-mail, I receive notice of the publication of the latest issue of the journal Justice Research and Policy. Here is the summary I received via e-mail of some of the articles that sentencing fans might be eager to check...
Florida executes murderer despite pleas for mercy from many religious figures
Posted on February 16, 2010As detailed in this local news article, Florida this evening carried out an execution of murderer whose death sentence had prompted many national and international religious figures to urge a grant of executive clemency. Here are the details: Martin Grossman...
Any Presidents' Day advice for Prez Obama on likely upcoming SCOTUS nominations?
Posted on February 15, 2010As detailed in this National Law Journal article from Tony Mauro, which is Talk Grows of 2 Openings at High Court: White House reportedly preparing for more Supreme Court exits," the buzz surrounding possible SCOTUS openning(s) continues to grow. Here...
Six-month sentence for importing the wrong kind of comic books from Japan
Posted on February 15, 2010Thanks to this post at How Appealing, I saw this interesting item on a Wired.com blog, which is titled "'Obscene' U.S. Manga Collector Jailed 6 Months." Here are the particulars: A U.S. comic book collector is being sentenced to six...
"Suspect plays ?Dating Game? video in murder trial"
Posted on February 15, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this new AP article that seems to be a fitting macabre the day after Valentine's Day. Here is how the piece starts: A convicted rapist who could face the death penalty...
Fascinating account of how new US Attorney got her job
Posted on February 14, 2010The Detroit Free Press has this really interesting article about a new Michigan US Attorney. The piece is headlined "McQuade's plan for revamping office won her the U.S. attorney post," and here are excerpts: B Barbara McQuade remembers the day...
Intriguing (not quite) criminal past for mass killer at University of Alabama
Posted on February 14, 2010This New York Times article, which is headlined "A Previous Shooting Death at the Hand of Alabama Suspect," discusses the notable history with the criminal law of the killer who went on a shooting spree at the University of Alabama....
Explaining the virtues of focused prisoner commutations in Michigan
Posted on February 14, 2010Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's legal counsel has this notable new commentary in the Detroit Free Press, which is headlined "Prisoner commutations have been rare and safe for public." Here is how it starts and ends: Last week, the Detroit Free....
"Oldest US death row inmate dead at 94 in Arizona"
Posted on February 14, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this new AP article. Here are a few of the particulars: Deaf, nearly blind, confined to a wheelchair and suffering from dementia and mental illness, the oldest death row inmate in...
Talk of feds taking sex offender tracking global
Posted on February 13, 2010This article, headlined "Sex offender law could go global with California lawmaker's bill," spotlights a proposal to internationalize sex offender tracking. Here are the details: Megan's Law soon could go international. The law, named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New...
"A Blue-Ribbon Look at Criminal Justice"
Posted on February 13, 2010The this of this post is the headline of this editorial from today's New York Times. Here are excerpts: The nation?s criminal justice system is in need of an overhaul. This is particularly true of its incarceration policies. Too many...
Notable comments by AG Holder about incarceration in speech to National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives
Posted on February 12, 2010For those like me concerned about the economic costs and potenital criminogenic consequences of mass incarceration, another speech delivered today from Attorney General Eric Holder suggests that his Department of Justice understands the problems with using incarceration to address all...
Ponzi schemer gets sentenced knocked down to 310 years from 330 years
Posted on February 12, 2010The Tenth Circuit today has largely affirmed, through this opinion, the convictions and sentences of white-collar offenders Norman Schmidt and Charles Lewis, who together conducted a Ponzi scheme through a number of investment companies and caused investor losses of more...
"Death and Texas"
Posted on February 12, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this piece in the New York Times sunday book review from Dahlia Lithwick. Here is how it starts: Toward the beginning of ?The Autobiography of an Execution,? David Dow relaxes after...
"Prisons, Redistricting and the Census"
Posted on February 11, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this new editorial in the New York Times. Here are excerpts: The Census Bureau struck a blow for electoral fairness recently when it decided to speed up publication of its data...
Jewish murderer getting special attention as Florida execution date approaches
Posted on February 11, 2010This article from the Orlando Sentinel, which is headlined "Jewish groups plead for Crist to save life of convicted killer Martin Grossman," puts an interesting spotlight on the intersection of religion and death penalty advocacy. Here are the basics: Orthodox...
Full Eleventh Circuit still struggling to figure out reasonableness review in Irey case
Posted on February 11, 2010The federal appeals courts have now had more than five years to make sense of reasonableness review, the revised approach to federal sentencing appeals created by the Supreme Court in its landmark Booker ruling in January 2005. However, as evidenced....
Providing a new (and needed) theoretical model for drug regulation regimes
Posted on February 11, 2010One of my new colleagues while I am here visiting at Fordham Law School, Kimani Paul-Emile, has this terrific and terrifically important new paper available via SSRN, which develops a theoretical model for different drug regulatory regimes. The piece is...
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Japan's International Child Abduction Policy
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Eminent domain, demographics and immigration policy
On the face of it, you may be wondering what eminent domain,...
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...








