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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.
Noting early unpublished sentencing opinions from Judge Sotomayor
Posted on May 27, 2009Alabama law prof David Patton, who was a federal defender in SDNY before heading south, sent me this report on a few unpublished sentencing opinions by Judge Sotomayor from the days before Booker: I thought I'd point out two unreported...
Constitutional criminal procedure doctrine and the force of stare decisis
Posted on May 27, 2009The import and force of stare decisis is often discussed in the context of Roe and other hot-button non-criminal constitutional rulings. But, in a fascinating little concurring opinion authored by Justice Alito (which Justice Kennedy joined) in yesterday's ruling in...
President Obama to nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court
Posted on May 26, 2009According to multiple press sources including this New York Times posting, "President Obama will nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as his first appointment to the court ... and has scheduled...
Some very early, very brief sentencing reflections on Judge Sotomayor
Posted on May 26, 2009Though I doubt I will do too much SCOTUS nominee blogging at least until the Senate confirmation hearing, I cannot resist some very early, very brief sentencing reflections on Judge Sonia Sotomayor. So here goes: 1. Judge Sotomayor has personally...
A few great lines (from the departing Justice) in today's little sentencing case
Posted on May 26, 2009Though not really a sentencing case as much as a statutory interpretation decision, the Supreme Court's unanimous decision today in Abuelhawa v. United States, No. 08-192 (S. Ct. May 26, 2009) (available here), is fundamentally about sentencing consequences...
A few new criminal law opinions from SCOTUS
Posted on May 26, 2009Though the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor will ensure that the future of the Supreme Court gets most of the headlines, the Justices did hand down a few opinions this morning. And, intriguingly, all three opinions issued today have criminal...
Notable background parallels between Judge Sotomayor and Justice Alito
Posted on May 26, 2009Though a lot is likely to be said and written about how different SCOTUS nominee Sonia Sotomayor is from other members of the Supreme Court, I am struck by some surprising background parallels between Judge Sotomayor and Justice Samuel Alito....
Seeking on-the-scene reports from the USSC regional hearing in California
Posted on May 26, 2009Though my cynical, snarky side is inclinded to say that California is the wrong state in which to hope to find sentencing wisdom, my hopeful pleasant side is convinced that US Sentencing Commission will get lots of great insights and...
Governor Jindal unwilling to take on costs of sex offender confinement proposals
Posted on May 26, 2009This local AP story out of Louisiana provides yet another example of how tight budget times will always put a squeeze on efforts to get extra tough on criminals. This AP piece is headlined "Jindal administration scraps key sex offender...
Seeing already some consequences of having a record on sentencing (and the Second Amendment?)
Posted on May 26, 2009I find it quite telling, though not especially surprising, that folks eager to find things they dislike about President Obama's SCOTUS nominee are already focused on her sentencing record and her possible views on the Second Amendment. Specifically, I just...
Interesting new paper on victims rights to restitution in Illinois
Posted on May 26, 2009I just notice on SSRN this new paper titled "Monetary Remedies for Victims During Illinois Criminal Cases." Here is the abstract: The Illinois Crime Victim?s Rights Amendment, added to the Illinois Constitution by the legislature and the voters in 1992,...
Fascinating fights over how to pass the prison buck in California
Posted on May 25, 2009This interesting and effective article from the Los Angeles Times brings to mind the famous phrase "follow the money," along with "it's the prison economy, stupid" and maybe also "the buck does not stop here." The LA Times article is...
What should Florida and other states do with all their old sex offenders?
Posted on May 25, 2009The question of this post follows from reading this interesting local article, headlined "Judge decides sex offender will stay confined at age 89." Here are excerpts: He's the state's oldest living sexually violent predator, but who is the real Ralph...
Religious group advocating against juve LWOP
Posted on May 25, 2009Yesterday's Los Angeles Times had this interesting article, headlined "Interfaith group seeks second chance for youths sentenced to life: The coalition delivers a message of redemption in sermons at some 200 California churches, synagogues and mosques...
"Allegations of Impropriety Surround Parole Commission"
Posted on May 25, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this new article from the Washington Post. Nobody sentenced in federal courts has been subject to the parole system in nearly two decades because parole was formally abolished as part of...
When animal law meets sentencing law
Posted on May 24, 2009This local article from Florida, which is headlined "Crimes against wildlife are slightly punished: State's point system yields light sentences for most offenders," provides an interesting report on sentencing terms for animal crimes. Here is how the article starts: A...
Reviewing three decades of the death penalty in the Sunshine State
Posted on May 24, 2009This local article, headlined "Fla. marks 30 years since death penalty's return," reviews some of Florida's notable capital punishment experiences over the last three decades. Here are snippets from the article, which highlights that Florida has had some of the...
"Ex-Soldier Gets Life Sentence for Iraq Murders"
Posted on May 23, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this New York Times article reporting the outcome of a high-profile capital prosecution with lots of international and domestic policy components. Here are the basics: A jury in Kentucky sentenced a...
Long weekend sentencing reading from SSRN
Posted on May 23, 2009These two new piece on very different sentencing topics caught my eye on SSRN this morning: Unexpected Consequences: The Constitutional Implications of Federal Prison Policy for Offenders Considering Abortion by Claire Bernice Deason Abstract: As many as 6,000 women are...
"Is 500 serious crimes worth the freedom of 50,000 offenders? That's my question."
Posted on May 22, 2009At the end of a lengthy debate in the comments to an earlier post, frequent commentor "federalist" tees up a great question that goes to the heart of the challenges facing all sentencing reform efforts. The question federalist poses is...
Connecticut legislature sends death penalty repeal bill to Governor Rell
Posted on May 22, 2009This local article reports on interesting early-morning death penalty reform developments in Connecticut: The Connecticut Senate voted to abolish the death penalty early Friday morning after a marathon debate, narrowly approving a bill that would make life imprisonment without possibility...
USA Patrick Fitzgerald urges business leaders to hire felons
Posted on May 22, 2009A helpful reader sent me this notable item from the Chicago papers, which is headlined " Fitzgerald: Fight crime by hiring felons: U.S. attorney says business could help cut murder rate, hire teens as interns." Here are excerpts: U.S. Attorney...
Notable new Alaska appellate decision on denying gun rights to non-violent felons
Posted on May 22, 2009Thanks to this post at Volokh, I learned of an interesting new Alaska Court of Appeals decision in Wilson v. Alaska (available here) addressing whether nonviolent felons have any rights under the state's Constitution. Here are basic parts of the...
Connecticut Governor pledges to veto death penalty repeal bill
Posted on May 22, 2009According to this AP story, the effort to repeal the death penalty in Connecticut is going to die on the desk of the state's governor: Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell vowed Friday to veto a newly approved bill banning the death...
New sex offender rules and regulations become law in Iowa
Posted on May 21, 2009As detailed in this local article, "revised restrictions on convicted sex offenders were signed into law today by Gov. Chet Culver, under a bill that several key law enforcement officials said will better protect Iowans." Here are more details: The...
The persistent and enduring challenges of cracking the crack disparity in Congress
Posted on May 21, 2009As detailed on this official hearing page, this morning the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the House Judiciary Committee has been holding a hearing on crack sentencing. As I predicted in this prior post, it does appear...
New Pew report with "evidence-based sentencing initiatives to control crime and reduce costs"
Posted on May 21, 2009I just learned of a new policy brief from the Pew Public Safety Performance Project, which is titled "Arming the Courts with Research: 10 Evidence-Based Sentencing Initiatives to Control Crime and Reduce Costs." The policy brief can be accessed at...
Are federal supermax prisons tough enough for terrorist detainees?
Posted on May 21, 2009According to this new AP article, which is headlined "Obama says US prisons tough enough for detainees,"President Obama views federal supermax prisons to be tough enough for government work. Here is part of an AP report on the President's security...
Some notable death penalty headlines
Posted on May 21, 2009Thanks to the always terrific How Appealing, I saw these interesting death penalty stories in today's newspapers: From the Kansas City Star here, "Execution protocol passes test; 13 more on death row in Missouri" From the New York Times here,...
West-coast swing for the US Sentencing Commission next week
Posted on May 21, 2009As detailed in this official notice, the US Sentencing Commission has scheduled a public hearing for May 27-28, 2009, at Stanford Law School. This link provides the agenda and the list of impressive persons scheduled to testify at the USSC...
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you should be getting a mileage comp. I own my own company and I pay my employee...
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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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