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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.
CNN covers Sullivan case as SCOTUS considers juve LWOP
Posted on April 20, 2009CNN has this new piece on a notable sentencing appeal, headlined " Sentenced as teen, convicted rapist appeals to highest court." The article is mostly focused on the pending cert petition from Joe Sullivan, whose case I have blogged here...
Are there any unique California criminal laws that should now be subject to Heller attacks?
Posted on April 20, 2009As noted here at How Appealing, a unanimous Ninth Circuit panel today held in this opinionthat "the Second Amendment is indeed incorporated against the states." And at the Volokh Conspiracy, Eugene Volokh already has this remarkable series of follow-up posts:...
Georgia struggles to pay for a costly capital system
Posted on April 19, 2009This morning's Atlanta Journal Constitution has this article about the ugly reality of capital case costs, headlined "?Crisis? in death-penalty trial system: Too little money available, attorney says." Here is how it starts: They involve some of Georgia?s most heinous...
Talk of drug courts, but not major policy changes, in drug war from Obama team
Posted on April 19, 2009This big story from CNN on the latest drug war talk coming from the Obama team reveals that drug courts, but not any moves toward legalization, appears to be focus on the new Administration: The man Obama picked to be...
Major report from The Constitution Project on right to counsel
Posted on April 19, 2009Last week, the folks at The Constitution Project released a massive report on the state of indigent defense titled "Justice Denied: America's Continuing Neglect of Our Constitutional Right to Counsel." The work is available here, and it is an impressive...
Should the US Sentencing Commission have more members?
Posted on April 18, 2009A conversation with a thoughtful sentencing observer got me to thinking about whether folks interested in significant reform of the federal sentencing system might urge a novel structural change in a key federal sentencing player. Specifically, perhaps the US Sentencing...
En banc Third Circuit upholds probation sentence in tax evasion case
Posted on April 17, 2009On the heels of yesterday's long panel ruling finding a child porn downloader's sentence unreasonable as too harsh in Olhovsky (discussed here), the Third Circuit today issued an even longer en banc opinion in US v. Tomko, No. 05-4997 (3d...
Some notable cert petitions to watch
Posted on April 17, 2009After another mid-season break, the Supreme Court start the always exciting final stretch of the Term with a cert conference today. Though we may not hear the results until Monday, the folks at SCOTUSblog in this post spotlight these two...
Justice very delayed in a capital case leads to a reprimand
Posted on April 17, 2009Anyone who wonders why some capital cases take sooooo long to make their way though the various layers of appeals available to capital defendants should be sure to check out this local article. Here are snippets: A Shelby County Criminal...
Notable student note defending a new ex post facto analysis after BookerI
Posted on April 17, 2009As I have indicted in a prior post, I think one of the most interesting and amazingly underexamined post-Bookerissue concerns whether or not the conversion of the guidelines to advisory status changed the settled pre-Booker determination that ex post facto...
What does the tea party movement have to say about taxing and spending on the death penalty, the drug war and mass incarceration?
Posted on April 16, 2009I am having a hard time figuring out what to think about the whole tea party movement, though at times it seems that even those involved in the movement are not always sure what exactly the whole tea party movement...
(Phony?) sentencing expert convicted of fraud for impersonating lawyer
Posted on April 16, 2009Many practitioners know the name Howard O. Kieffer from his federal sentencing work in a vareity of settings on a variety of issues. But, as detailed in this AP article and this local piece, Kieffer now need to devote his...
Colorado legislature moving toward death penalty repeal and additions sentencing reforms
Posted on April 16, 2009As detailed in this Denver Post article, headlined "House backs death-penalty demise: Another vote is needed before the Senate gets the bill, which would use the money saved to solve cold cases," the Colorado legislature is moving forward on a...
Third Circuit issues big opinion finding child porn sentence unreasonable
Posted on April 16, 2009The Third Circuit has a major new sentencing decision today in a child porn case. The decision in US v. Olhovsky, No. 07-1642 (3d Cir. April 16, 2009) (available here), runs 73 pages, but its first paragraph is brief and...
The latest, greatest federal sentencing data from the USSC
Posted on April 16, 2009The US Sentencing Commission has some fresh new sentencing data now up on its website. The USSC's latest data report, which can be accessed here, is described this way: First Quarter FY09 Quarterly Sentencing Update: An extensive set of tables...
Troy Davis gets no relief on innocence claims in Eleventh Circuit
Posted on April 16, 2009The Eleventh Circuit today in this long per curiam opinion disposes of the legal claims of Georgia death row defendant Troy Davis. Here is how the opinion starts: On October 22, 2008, Troy Anthony Davis (?Davis?), a Georgia death row...
"The cost of capital punishment"
Posted on April 15, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this editorial against the death penalty appearing in today's Boston Globe. Here are snippets: It may be too soon to call it a trend, but two states have abolished the death...
Two notable sex offender rulings from the Missouri Supreme Court
Posted on April 15, 2009As detailed in AP articles here and here, the Missouri Supreme Court has ruled against a couple of sex offender in a couple of interesting settings. The headlines of the articles provides a summary of the rulings: " Missouri Supreme...
Renewing a lawyerly pitch for ending drug prohibition
Posted on April 15, 2009Thanks to this postat TalkLeft, I see that the New York City Bar Association's Committee on Drugs and the Law has issued this interesting five-page document titled "A Wiser Course: Ending Drug Prohibition, Fifteen Years Later." Here are snippets from...
Iowa legislature working on revising state's sex offender residence restriction
Posted on April 15, 2009This local story out of Iowa provides details on a fascinating legislative development from the state that largely pioneered the use of extreme sex offender residency restrictions: Key lawmakers say they are close to an agreement on a plan to...
"Man shoots self, gets 33 months"
Posted on April 15, 2009The title of this post is the comical headline given to this local story of a recent federal sentencing. Here is the fuller explanation: A Winslow man who accidentally shot himself in the leg with a stolen gun more than...
Need to track sex offenders, there's an app for that...
Posted on April 14, 2009Anyone who enjoys the new iPhone ads spotlighting interesting applications can join me in wondering if the newest app will get its own commercial. This press release provides the details: The WatchOut! iPhone application, which enables consumers to search any...
New report from The Sentencing Project on the drug war's racial dynamics
Posted on April 14, 2009Continuing its well-established traditions of producing interesting, informative and timely reports on hot criminal justice topics, the folks at The Sentencing Project have a new study looking at race and the drug war. Here are the details from the text...
Sixth Circuit concurrence talks about capital punishment's economic costs
Posted on April 14, 2009As detailed in links below, lots of legislators, advocates and media folk have been talking about the economic costs of the death penalty lately. But today in Wiles v. Bagley, No. 05-3719 (6th Cir. April 14, 2009) (available here), Judge...
Eleventh Circuit rejects arguments for a right to counsel at crack sentence modification proceedings
Posted on April 13, 2009Addressing an interesting right to counsel issue, the Eleventh Circuit today in US v. Webb, No. 08-13405 (11th Cir. April 13, 2009) (available here), concludes that "there is no statutory or constitutional right to counsel for a § 3582(c)(2) motion...
Effective examination of juve LWOP problems in Michigan
Posted on April 13, 2009This local article, headlined "As bill to ban life imprisonment for children languishes, inequities of defense persist," provides an effective review of Michigan's story of sentencing juvenile offenders to extreme prison terms. Here are excerpts (which include helpful links): As...
"Man with weapons cache appealing on Second Amendment"
Posted on April 13, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this local article reporting on a notable federal gun case from Connecticut. Here are the basics: A Berlin man convicted in federal court on two dozen weapons charges will pursue an...
Are any Skadden lawyers doing sentencing work with their "time off"?
Posted on April 13, 2009I see from this New York Times article that Skadden, Arps is offering "all of its associates ? about 1,300 worldwide ? the option of accepting a third of their base pay to not show up for work for a...
Pondering the fall-out from the Stevens debacle
Posted on April 13, 2009Today's Legal Times has this piece, headlined "Attorney General Weathers Stevens Fallout -- for Now," which takes early stock of the early aftermath of the latest ugliness in the Justice Department. Here is how it starts: For the Justice Department,....
Split Tenth Circuit panel denies denies Nacchio bail pending cert.
Posted on April 13, 2009Howard Bashman has linked here the news reports and the short opinion coming from the Tenth Circuit on the issue of whether the former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio should get bail pending his attempt to get cert to review his...
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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...
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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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