(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.
Local Michigan prosecutor suing state for parole release data
Posted on June 25, 2009It is not unusual for inmate to sue a state parole board in order to seek early release, but this story from The Detroit News is the first time I have heard of a prosecutor suing the state to find...
Interesting new paper examining prosecutorial biases
Posted on June 25, 2009I just noticed this interesting-looking new paper on SSRN by Barbara O'Brien, which is titled "A Recipe for Bias: An Empirical Look at the Interplay between Institutional Incentives and Bounded Rationality in Prosecutorial Decision Making." Here is the abstract: Prosecutors...
SCOTUS hands down last two criminal justice cases of the Term
Posted on June 25, 2009Though not dealing directly with sentencing issues, the Supreme Court issued its final two notable criminal justice decisions this morning. Here is the basics thanks to this post at How Appealing: Today's third opinion issued in Safford United School Dist...
Will Judge Sotomayor say anything "activist" about the Second and Eighth Amendments?
Posted on June 25, 2009These two new articles about Judge Sotomayor this morning highlight that her jurisprudential views on gun rights and capital punishment are sure to be a significant part of her confirmation hearings next month: The New York Times has this article...
Senator Webb's bill for criminal justice reform commission getting some House attention
Posted on June 25, 2009As detailed in this Huffington Post piece, the "House of Representatives will be taking up a companion version of a popular Senate bill intended to overhaul the American criminal justice system, Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) told the Huffington Post on...
Judge Kent (finally!) resigns as he is served impeachment papers in prison
Posted on June 25, 2009Thanks to this post from How Appealing linking all the press coverage, I see that convicted felon Judge Samuel Kent made some news from his prison cell this afternoon. Here is a report from the Houston Chronicle: U.S. District Judge...
Why Bernie Madoff won't get a record white-collar sentence
Posted on June 25, 2009In this posta few weeks ago, I put forward a "bleg from a Forbes reporter seeking to "compile a list of longest federal sentences for white-collar criminals, specifically financial criminals." The product of the reporter's efforts now appears in this...
"Proposed cuts would allow a Madoff to avoid prison in California, Cooley says"
Posted on June 25, 2009The title of this post is the heading from this notable posting in the Los Angeles Times blog discussing some of the reaction to some of the cuts proposed in California's new budget. Here are a few more details: Los...
New York Times editorial on combatting prison rape
Posted on June 24, 2009I am pleased to see that the New York Times has responded to the new important report on prison rape (details here) with this potent editorial. Here are some highlights: Rape accompanied by savage violence has long been part of...
Notable upward variance for white-collar offender
Posted on June 24, 2009This local federal sentencing story from Massachusetts, which is headlined "Judge throws the book at Cape church swindler," highlights that judges are sometimes eager to bring down the sentencing hammer on certain white-collar criminals: A federal judge yesterday sentenced a...
The still on-going struggle over lethal injection procedures in Missouri
Posted on June 24, 2009Anyone who hoped or feared that the Supreme Court's ruling in Baze would help resolve lower court litigation over state lethal injection procedures should check out this new article from Missouri. The piece is headlined "Mo. executions on hold because...
What is a fitting and just sentence for breastfeeding while intoxicated?
Posted on June 24, 2009This local story from North Dakota, which has now been picked up by the AP and UPI, seems certain to be fodder for punditry of all sorts. Of course, I am eager to make it a sentencing story, and here...
A local sentencing story for the dogs
Posted on June 24, 2009During various sports radio discussions, I heard various folks assert that the different prison terms given to Michael Vick and Donte Stallworth showed that society cared more about criminals who kill dogs rather than those who killed humans. Though this...
Long split Sixth Circuit opinion discussing lots of modern federal sentencing issues
Posted on June 24, 2009The Sixth Circuit issued a long split opinion this morning in US v. O?Georgia, No. 05-2598 (6th Cir. June 24, 2009) (available here). The start of the majority's ruling provides some flavor of the many issues covered: Mark Arhebamen, also...
Speech by AG Holder for "Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy"
Posted on June 24, 2009As I noted in this post, a big event this afternoon in DC took place under the heading "?Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy: 25th Anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act." Attorney General Eric Holder spoke at the event, and his speech...
Madoff asking for a 12-year prison sentence
Posted on June 23, 2009As detailed in this new story in the New York Law Journal, which is headlined "Madoff Lawyer Asks Judge to Ignore 'Hysteria,' Impose 12-Year Sentence," the legal team for Bernie Madoff has come up with an interesting proposed sentencing number:...
Notable new paper on doctor involvement in executions
Posted on June 23, 2009I just learned from a helpful reader about this new article by Ty Alper on SSRN titled, "The Truth about Physician Participation in Lethal Injection Executions." Here is the abstract: This Article addresses an aspect of Baze v. Rees (the...
Intriguing Ninth Circuit ruling on scope of Apprendi's prior conviction exception
Posted on June 23, 2009The Ninth Circuit handed down an interesting little habeas ruling today in Kessee v. Mendoza-Powers, No. 07-56153 (9th Cir. June 23, 2009) (available here). As this start to the short Kessee opinion highlights, one probably needs to be a hard-core...
Major CBC event on "Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy"
Posted on June 23, 2009As detailed in these notices from The Sentencing Project and FAMM, the Congressional Black Caucus Community Re-Investment Taskforce has a great program planned for Wednesday, June 24 on "Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy." Here is how The Sentencing Project describes the...
Major report on combatting prison rape finally released
Posted on June 23, 2009As detailed in this Washington Post article, a long awaited report from the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission has finally been released: Nearly six years after President George W. Bush signed legislation to reduce prison rape, a blue-ribbon commission is...
"A Clean Version Of Hell"
Posted on June 22, 2009The title of this post is the title given to this 60 Minutes segment that ran last night discussing the federal supermax prison in Colorado. The piece is mostly a re-run of an earlier segment, but the introduction highlights its...
Lots of new reading for Second Amendment fans
Posted on June 22, 2009I have noticed that a wave of Heller and Second Amendment scholarship is starting to crash on the beaches of SSRN. Specifically, these four new pieces have all showed up in just the last few weeks: Heller and Nonlethal Weapons...
"Prison spending still shackles state budget"
Posted on June 22, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this effective commentary from a local paper in Colorado. Here are a few excerpts from a piece that effectively spotlights how significant and consequential prison sepnding has become in that state:...
Supreme Court grants cert on federal sex offender civil confinement
Posted on June 22, 2009As detailed in this order list, the Supreme Court this morning granted cert on United States v. Comstock, which concerns Congress's authority to enact a federal statute permitting court-ordered civil commitment by the federal government of ?sexually dangerous? persons...
The telling failure to make serious use of the clemency power in Maryland
Posted on June 22, 2009This Washington Post article, headlined "O'Malley Puts the Brakes on Clemency in Md.: Governor Prepares to Clear 7, His First Such Cases, and Remains Far Behind Ehrlich's Pace," highlights how a governor who has been eager to end the death...
"Will Madoff ever leave prison alive?"
Posted on June 22, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this new piece at CNNMoney. Here is how the piece starts: Convicted Ponzi scammer Bernard Madoff will probably spend the rest of his life in jail. On June 29, Judge Denny...
Notable recent comments about sentencing reforms from AG Holder
Posted on June 21, 2009Thanks to this post at TalkLeft, I saw that Attorney General Eric Holder spoke about the crack-powder sentencing disparity and other drug sentencing issues on Friday at the D.C. Court of Appeals Judicial Conference. His speech is available at this...
"Death penalty decisions loom for Barack Obama"
Posted on June 21, 2009The title of this post is the headline from this new article at Politico. Here are excerpts from the start of a lengthy and informative article by Josh Gerstein: For the first time in his career, President Barack Obama may...
New report urging drug sentencing reform in Massachusetts
Posted on June 21, 2009This press release made available at FAMM provides this report on a new state bar report urging drug sentencing reforms in Massachusetts: Massachusetts must enact meaningful drug reform for non-violent offenders, focusing on education and treatment instead of incarceration and...
Should a governor be writing a sentencing judge urging a harsh sentence?
Posted on June 20, 2009The question of this post is prompted by this local article from Pennsylvania, which is headlined "Judge blasts Gov. Rendell's letter about sentencing." Here are some of the particulars: From the bench Wednesday afternoon, county President Judge William E...
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. |