(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense
Find a Local Lawyer
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402
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.
"Judges Punish Wall Street as Regulators Just Talk About Reform"
Posted on September 08, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this interesting Bloomberg piece that suggesting that federal sentencing judges are playing a central role in responding to the recent economic crash. Here is how the piece gets started: As the...
China struggles with drunk driving sentencing
Posted on September 08, 2009As one who is always concerned with the US approach to sentencing drunk driving, I was intrigued to see this AP story from China concerning that country's struggle with this crime and effective punishments. Here are excerpts from the piece:...
Another notable uptick in below-guideline sentences in latest data run from USSC
Posted on September 08, 2009The US Sentencing Commission has some notable new sentencing data now up on its website. The USSC's latest data report, which can be accessed here, is described this way: Third Quarter FY09 Quarterly Sentencing Update: An extensive set of tables...
Reflecting on community intuitions about justice and punishment
Posted on September 07, 2009As spotlighted in this paper and in lots of other thoughtful work, Paul Robinson has pioneered and championed a concept he calls "empirical desert" that is focused on having community intuitions of justice as the backbone of a criminal justice...
A remarkable concurrence in the affirmance of a long mandatory minimum sentence
Posted on September 07, 2009Late Friday the First Circuit affirmed the application of a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence in a single-page per curiam opinion in US v. Cirilo-Munoz, No. 08-1830 (1st Cir. Sept. 4, 2009) (available here). The opinion in Cirilo-Muno is blog-worthy because...
Confronting the gendered realities of extreme sex crimes
Posted on September 07, 2009Most serious observers of the criminal justice system surely recognize how dramatically "gendered" much criminal offending tends to be ? i.e., the vast majority of serious criminal offenders are men, and many female offenders get involved in crimes because of,...
Notable criminology studies from international sources
Posted on September 07, 2009Catching up with some of the SSRN pieces in my in-box, I discovered these two notable criminology pieces from researchers working outside the USA: Crime, Economic Conditions, Social Interactions and Family Heritage Abstract: This paper tests whether factors referring to...
When and how will SCOTUS respond to the California prison litigation?
Posted on September 07, 2009As detailed in this San Jose Mercury News article, "California officials Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lower court order that forces the state to quickly devise a plan to shed more than 40,000 inmates from its...
Seeking deep throughts in reaction to "The Recession Behind Bars"
Posted on September 06, 2009Today's New York Times includes this fascinating op-ed, headlined "The Recession Behind Bars," which is authored Kenneth Hartman, who is nearing the end of his third decade in prison following a 1980 conviction for murder that led to an LWOP...
Interesting review of closing penitentiaries due to the prison economy
Posted on September 06, 2009This weekend's Wall Street Journal includes this effective piece headlined "Lights Out at the Penitentiary: Strapped States are Shutting Prisons, But Moving 1,100 Inmates -- Beds and All -- Is a Trial." Here is how it gets started: Jeffrey Woods,...
Detailed examination of the death penalty in Louisiana
Posted on September 06, 2009The Shreveport Times today has this effective article, headlined "Louisiana death penalty: an eye for an eye or ineffective?," which provides a detailed examination of the death penalty in Louisiana. The paper indicates that this piece is only "the first...
"Cash-strapped states revise laws to get inmates out"
Posted on September 05, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this effective article from today's Los Angeles Times. Here is how it gets started: After decades of pursuing lock-'em-up policies, states are scrambling to reduce their prison populations in the face...
"Not Innocent Enough: The elusive search for the sufficiently innocent death-row victim"
Posted on September 05, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this Slate article by Dahlia Lithwick, which connects the recent death penalty stories surrounding Troy Davis and Cameron Todd Willingham. Here is how it starts and ends: For years, death-penalty opponents...
Fascinating district court refusal to accept a (coercive?) plea deal
Posted on September 04, 2009A helpful reader sent me copy of a fascinating five-page district court ruling from earlier this week in US v. Taliaferro, No. 08-cr-7-1-SM (D.N.H. Sept 1, 2009) (available for download below). The start and end of the order highlights why...
Split Seventh Circuit panel discusses importance of right to allocute
Posted on September 04, 2009A split Seventh Circuit has an extended and interesting discussion of a defendant's right to allocute and lots of other notable issues in US v. Noel, No. 07-2468 (7th Cir. Sept. 4, 2009) (available here), which is yet another ugly...
Eighth Circuit affirms stat-max sentence for false statement in bankruptcy proceeding
Posted on September 04, 2009With a struggling ecomony perhaps leading more and more businesses and persons to consider declaring bankruptcy, a ruling today from the Eighth Circuit in US v. Waldner, No. 08-2606 (8th Cir. Sept. 4, 2009) (available here), provides a sharp reminder...
US Sentencing Commmission makes official its ambitious priorities
Posted on September 04, 2009Back in June, as detailed in this post, the US Sentencing Commission released its "notice of proposed priorities and request for public comment ... for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2010." As I noted back then, unlike in prior...
Interesting forfeiture ruling from split Washington Supreme Court
Posted on September 04, 2009Thanks to this post at How Appealing, I saw this Seattle Times article, headlined "State Supreme Court: Parents can keep cars used by drug dealing son," which describes a notable forfeiture decision by a state high court. Here is how...
Lots of interesting criminology reading for a long weekend
Posted on September 04, 2009I noticed via the SSRN criminology abstracts a lot of interesting-looking new papers: Law, Legal Institutions, and the Criminalization of the Underclass by David Ray Papke Thug Life: Hip Hop?s Curious Relationship with Criminal Justice by andre douglas pond cummings...
"Federal Judge Refuses To Take New Criminal Cases"
Posted on September 03, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this NPR piece about a notable federal district judge's decision to reshape his docket. Here are the basics from the piece: A federal judge in Milwaukee has taken the unusual step...
US Sentencing Commission regional hearing in Chicago next week
Posted on September 03, 2009As detailed in this brief public notice, the US Sentencing Commission has another one of its regional public hearings on tap for next week. This fourth regional public hearing is scheduled for Sept 9-10, 2009, in Chicago will be held...
Lots of interesting news and notes about parole
Posted on September 03, 2009In the news today are a number of interesting items about parole: From the Gainesville Sun here, "Editorial: Parole reform" From Reuters here, "Dying Manson follower Atkins denied parole" From the Richmond Times Dispatch here, "Some inmates eligible for parole...
Three-judge panel refuses to stay order requiring California to reduce its prison population
Posted on September 03, 2009As detailed in this Los Angeles Times piece, a "panel of federal judges today denied state officials? request to delay an order that they produce a plan to reduce California's prison population by 40,000 inmates." Here is more: Aides to...
"Pa. lifers seeking clemency in wake of US ruling"
Posted on September 03, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this new AP article discussing litigation and other developments surrounding possible clemency grants for those serving life sentences in Pennsylvania. Here are excerpts: Tyrone Werts earned a college degree, counseled at-risk...
Might the ugly Garrido case result in needed changes to sex offender registries?
Posted on September 03, 2009This new article in the Wall Street Journal, which is headlined "Sex-Registry Flaws Stand Out," has me wondering and hoping that the horrid Phillip Garrido case might prompt needed reforms to ever-expanding sex offender registries. Here are snippets: The case...
Study suggests support for death penalty still strong despite innocence concerns
Posted on September 02, 2009The title of this post is meant to be quite different from the headline of this new Los Angeles Times article, which is headlined "Californians' support for death penalty waning: A survey shows public support has dropped from 79% to...
"Race, Death and Disproportionality"
Posted on September 02, 2009The title of this post is the title of this new piece I noticed on SSRN from Scott Howe. Here is the abstract: Statistical studies showing unconscious racial bias in capital selection matter under the eighth amendment. In McCleskey v....
Justice Stevens' clerk hiring can start next round of SCOTUS speculation
Posted on September 02, 2009Even though new Justice Sotomayor has not yet even heard her first case, this new AP article seems sure to start a new round of Supreme Court transition talk. Here's the lead: "Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired...
Good news on crime victimization rates in 2008
Posted on September 02, 2009Various folks expressed concern that the down-turn in the economy in 2008 could and likely would lead to an increase in crimes. But, as this DOJ press release details, the latest, greatest statistics suggest that crime victimization decreased from 2007...
California begins SCOTUS appeal process for federal ruling ordering prisoner release
Posted on September 02, 2009This Sacramento Bee article details that California has begun the process for appealing the recent three-judge special panel ruling that called for a dramatic cut in California's prison population. Here are the basics: State lawyers said Tuesday they will try...
Previous | Next
Japan's International Child Abduction Policy
By Kirsten Brown (AXcess News) Washington - Four fathers quietly f...
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...
#1 Online Legal Resource
On 08-25 at 15:46PM
Acute perpendicular parking #NYPD #NYFD
On 08-18 at 22:18PM
Parallel parking gone bad. Too much gas UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:41PM
UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:25PM
Twitter suspends journalist critical of broadcast partner's coverage on dubious grounds @guyadams #nbcfail #twitterfail
On 07-30 at 17:57PM
Model example of 1st Amendment suppression by the People of New York City's Michael Bloomberg #OWS #NYPD
On 07-12 at 21:07PM
AG Holder lackadaisical on Operation in our Sites domain name seizures & RIAA lobbied free speech suppression @dajaz1
On 06-08 at 22:44PM
Why is the Catholic Church going to court over Obama contraception policy? @NewYorker commentary
On 05-31 at 10:08AM
Monks sue Louisiana for right to sell caskets made from forrest destroyed by Katrina
On 05-31 at 07:47AM
Are the abortion ultrasound laws headed for the Supreme Court?
On 05-15 at 21:52PM
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...
 |
|
Contact Us | About Us | Celebrity Law Blog |
Our Partners | Disclaimer
| Law Blog Directory
| Law Jobs
| Law Tweets
| GoDaddy Hosting
All original material � 1999-2011 by USLaw.com. |