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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.
The latest briefing on fast-track disparity after Kimbrough
Posted on May 15, 2009One of the most interesting and dynamic post-Booker issues still percolating in the lower courts concerns whether defendants who are not within so-called "fast-track" districts should be eligible for comparable early plea sentence reductions when their cases are factually similar...
"The Great Writ Diminished"
Posted on May 15, 2009The title of this post is the title of this piece on SSRN by US District Judge Lynn Adelman. Here is the abstract: In 2007, an empirical study of 2,384 randomly-selected habeas corpus petitions filed in United States District Courts...
Is the Obama Administration starting a (too slow?) withdrawal in the war on drugs?
Posted on May 15, 2009This article from the Wall Street Journal, headlined "White House Czar Calls for End to 'War on Drugs': Kerlikowske Says Analogy Is Counterproductive; Shift Aligns With Administration Preference for Treatment Over Incarceration," provides some encouraging news for those who are...
The latest SCOTUS nominee news and seeking some predictions (or dreams)
Posted on May 15, 2009According to this AP article, the "White House says President Barack Obama has not started interviewing candidates for the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy." I had been thinking that President Obama was likely to name a nominee within the next few...
Interesting empirical examination of SCOTUS cert granting
Posted on May 14, 2009Especially in the criminal justice arena, what the Supreme Court decides to decide is almost as important as what they decide. Thus, I am always excited to see a new analysis and assessment of how the Justices' pick their cases....
"Car breath tests for 1st-time DUI offenders?"
Posted on May 14, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this article from my local Columbus Dispatch. As a few excerpt show, this short piece appeals to my affinity for technocorrections, for data-driven sentencing reforms, for alternatives to incarceration and for...
Exploring constitutional ineffectiveness at sentencing
Posted on May 14, 2009Professor Carissa Byrne Hessick now has posted here on SSRN a great new paper on a sentencing topic I have always found very interesting (and underexplored in both caselaw and the academic literature). This piece is titled simply "Ineffective Assistance...
Prosecutorial power, victims rights, sentencing judgments and judicial empathy
Posted on May 14, 2009Two very different post by Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy have me thinking this morning about all the topics in the title of this post. Here are the links: Additional Sentencing Briefs in Lori Drew Case Legal Ambiguity, Empathy,...
Should we force offenders to pay for the costs of their punishments?
Posted on May 14, 2009This local article, headlined "N.J. lawmakers want inmates to pay jail, monitoring costs," prompts the question in this title of this post. Here are some excerpts: Some New Jersey lawmakers want convicted criminals to pay for their confinement or electronic...
Connecticut house votes to repeal state's death penalty
Posted on May 14, 2009Here is the latest news from the latest state that does not really make serious use of the death penalty that is having a serious debate over whether to formally abolish the punishment: The [Connecticut] state House of Representatives voted...
"Determining When Severe Mental Illness Should Disqualify a Defendant from Capital Punishment"
Posted on May 13, 2009The title of this post is the title of this piece from Bruce Winick appearing on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The American Bar Association and other professional organizations have adopted policy statements calling for an exclusion from capital punishment...
"Law students help free three-strikes offenders"
Posted on May 13, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this interesting Los Angeles Times article. Here are excerpts: Stanford law clinic ... students are devoted to reversing what they view as miscarriages of justice under the three-strikes law. Their work...
Two significant sex offender rulings on constitutional issues from the Eighth Circuit
Posted on May 13, 2009As noted on this official opinion page the Eighth Circuit has released two significant sex offender rulings today. Here are the basic detail (and links) from the unofficial summaries on that page: United States v. Roger Dean Tom, No: 08-2345...
Unusual porn case leads to 33-month sentence after rejected deal for shorter term
Posted on May 13, 2009As noted in this post from a few weeks ago, an unusual porn case from Indiana had prompted a federal district judge to reject a plea agreement that had called for a below-guideline sentence for a defendant who clearly has...
Interesting post-DP repeal ruling from the New Jersey Supreme Court
Posted on May 13, 2009As detailed in this local article from New Jersey, the "state Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a murderer whose case was proceeding as New Jersey abolished the death penalty can be sentenced to life without parole, even though the state...
You make the call: should PA file a brief in Graham and Sullivan
Posted on May 13, 2009This new article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, which is headlined "U.S Supreme Court may alter juveniles' life sentences," spotlights why Pennsylvania will be very interested in the two juve LWOP cases, Graham and Sullivan, recently taken up by the Supreme...
Spring issue of FAMMGram now available
Posted on May 13, 2009I just received via e-mail this note from the folks at FAMM detailing the contents of its latest newsletter: The FAMMGram still includes all of the latest sentencing information you expect from FAMM. Click here to thumb through the pages,...
The latest SCOTUS nominee short-list news
Posted on May 13, 2009This AP article has these new SCOTUS nominee short-list details: Among those under consideration are Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Appeals Court judges Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Pamela Wood...
Should we embrace or fear videoconferencing in corrections?
Posted on May 13, 2009This fascintating article at Stateline.org, which is headlined "States expand videoconferencing in prisons," prompts the question in the title of this post. Here are snippets from the article: Faced with the high costs of transporting and escorting sick inmates to...
Revised discussion of criminal justice plans on White House website
Posted on May 12, 2009Though perhaps this is old news, I just noticed that the discussion of criminal justice issues has changed over at the Civil Rights webpage on WhiteHouse.gov. As detailed in this old post, this webpage used to take a bullet-point approach...
How do you say Mistretta with a scottish brogue?
Posted on May 12, 2009This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Mistretta, which declared that the basic institutional structure for the creation of the federal sentencing guidelines were constitutional. And now, as detailed in this brief report, it appears...
FSR issue on "second look" sentencing reforms now on-line
Posted on May 12, 2009I am very pleased to report that the latest issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter is available on-line. The issue is focused on "second look" sentencing reforms, and is largely a product of the efforts of Margaret Colgate Love. Thanks...
"Ohio judge sentences 2 teens for sexting"
Posted on May 12, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this local article reporting the latest sexting sentencing news. Here are the particulars: Two Ohio teenagers caught sending or possessing nude photos on their cell phones have been ordered to surrender...
My kind of drunk driving sentence ... in Norway
Posted on May 12, 2009I was intrigued and pleased to see this press report, headlined "Big fine follows short drive," discussing a noteworthy drunk driving sentence handed down recently in Norway: A Norwegian businessman was ordered on Tuesday to pay a fine of 700,000...
Charges dropped against Paul House of House v. Bell fame
Posted on May 12, 2009This AP piece, headlined "Charges dropped against former TN death row inmate," provide the rest of the story of a notable SCOTUS case from a few years back. Here is how it starts: Prosecutors dropped charges on Tuesday against a...
Split Ninth Circuit rejects Commerce Clause challenge to possession of body armor crime
Posted on May 12, 2009A Ninth Circuit panel today split over an interesting Commerce Clause issue relating to a federal criminal statute in US v. Alderman, No. 07-30186 (9th Cir. May 12, 2009) (available here). Here is how the majority opinion starts: This case...
A pair of notable and important rulings in another sad child porn downloading case
Posted on May 12, 2009I just received a copy of a pair of notable (and notably brief) rulings from a federal district court here in Ohio in yet another sad child porn downloading case. The two rulings in US v. Szymanski, No. 3:08 CR...
Lots of new SCOTUS nominee posts at The Volokh Conspiracy
Posted on May 12, 2009The bloggers at The Volokh Conspiracy have a bunch of notable new posts (with links and comments) on SCOTUS nominee buzz: National Journal "Ninth Justice" Blog on the Search to Fill Souter's Seat Rosen Vindicated? Funny In addition, any and...
Still more disturbing details emerging (and not emerging) from Kent sentencing
Posted on May 12, 2009The more I learn about the crimes and sentencing of former federal judge Samuel Kent, the more troubled I am about how this case has been handled by federal prosecutors and the presiding federal judge. And I remain especially aggravated...
Bail and sentencing issues take center stage in Dreier case
Posted on May 11, 2009This New York Law Journal article, headlined "Guilty Plea Expected, but Dreier Seeks to Stay Free a Little Longer," details how another high-profile white-collar prosecution is about to become a case about bail and sentencing. Here are the details: Disgraced...
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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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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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