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Criminal Law

Sentencing Law and Policy

News, issues, commentary and provides resources related to sentencing law and policy.
By Douglas A. Berman

Post Frequency: 77.7/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 10:54:24

Lethal injection drug supply continuing to be an issue in new year

Posted on January 05, 2011
My local Columbus Dispatch has this article this morning about the continuing struggles for death penalty states having a supply of lethal injection drugs. The piece is headlined "Supply of lethal drug is unsure; State has enough to put prisoner...

"Porn sentencing rules puzzle"

Posted on January 05, 2011
The title of this post is the headline of this new article from the Knoxville News Sentinel. Here are excerpts: Longtime Claiborne County educator Joseph Wayne Jennings faced more punishment for looking at pictures of child rape victims than he...

"Attorney General Eric Holder Convenes Inaugural Cabinet-Level Reentry Council"

Posted on January 05, 2011
The title of this post is the heading of this notable press release from the Department of Justice. Here is how the release starts: Attorney General Eric Holder today convened the inaugural meeting of the Cabinet-level "Reentry Council" in Washington...

Hard sentence makes bad(?) sufficiency law in child porn downloading case from Tenth Circuit

Posted on January 05, 2011
"Hard cases make bad law" is an old legal adage that I have paraphrased in the title of this post to describe my reaction to the Tenth Circuit's interesting split ruling today in US v. Dobbs, No. 09-5025 (10th Cir....

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Ninth Circuit upholds DNA extraction from California prisoners

Posted on January 04, 2011
Today in Hamilton v. Brown, No. 09-1523 (9th Cir. Jan. 4, 20110 (available here), a Ninth Circuit panel rejects various constitutional challenges to California's process for extracting DNA from its state prisoners. Here is how the opinion gets started: We...

Interesting policy echoes from notable clemency grants in California

Posted on January 04, 2011
One of many reasons I favor and often urge robust use of clemency power by executive officials is because notable clemency grants often spark useful public discussion of important issues of sentencing law and policy. This reality is on full...

Officer killing in Massachusetts stirring debate over parole policies

Posted on January 04, 2011
As highlighted in this Boston Globe story, which is headlined "Outrage, restraint on parole inquiry; Governor, speaker differ on response to officer?s slaying," a high-profile killing by a (now-dead) paroled offender is stirring sentencing policy debate in Massachusetts...

Adult prison sentence of 25 years for 12-year old killer in Indiana

Posted on January 04, 2011
As detailed in this lengthy local article from Indiana, which is headlined "Gingerich sentenced to 25 years in prison," today a very young killer in Indiana got a very adult sentence for his crime. Here are the specifics: A 12-year-old...

Empty prison in Virginia a sign of new sentencing and prison times

Posted on January 03, 2011
This effective and lengthy local article, headlined "New $105M Va. prison remains empty," reflects some of the new sentencing and prison times that many states are experiencing as we start a new year. Here are excerpts: [F]our months after the...

Start your year by writing a commentary for the Federal Sentencing Reporter

Posted on January 03, 2011
Wearing my hat as an editor of the Federal Sentencing Reporter, I am happy to reproduce a solicitation from the journal below (and I am eager to encourage regular readers to put together their views on federal sentencing ASAP): Seeking...

"Will Pot Be Legal By The End Of This Decade?"

Posted on January 03, 2011
The interesting question in the title of this post comes from the headline of this new piece at The Crime Report authored by Stephen Gutwillig, who is California director of the Drug Policy Alliance (which is a national advocacy group...

"Overview of Federal Criminal Cases: Fiscal Year 2009"

Posted on January 03, 2011
The title of this post is the title of this data-filled document produced by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which is now available via the USSC website. Here is a snippet from the start of the publication: The vast majority of...

Outgoing Governor Schwarzenegger grants commutations and pardons

Posted on January 02, 2011
On his way out of the Governor's office, Arnold Schwarzenegger has made some notable use of his clemency powers. Press releases here and here provide these basics and links to the Governor's statements on each grant: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has...

"Sentences stick for young killers: Law shift won't help murder cases"

Posted on January 02, 2011
The title of this post is the headline of this interesting article from Florida Today. Here are a few excerpts: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that it was unconstitutional to sentence juveniles to life in prison for non-murderous...

"Outlawed, Cellphones Are Thriving in Prisons"

Posted on January 02, 2011
The title of this post is the headline of this fascinating new New York Times article. Here are excerpts: Technology is changing life inside prisons across the country at the same rapid-fire pace it is changing life outside. A smartphone...

Laments about judicial vacancies and federal criminal justice stats in Chief's year-end report

Posted on January 01, 2011
As detailed in this New York Times piece, "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. called on President Obama and the Senate on Friday to solve what he called 'the persistent problem of judicial vacancies.'" Here's more: The plea, in the...

Washington Post rightly assials "Mr. Obama's lackluster pardons"

Posted on December 31, 2010
Today's editorial page of the Washington Post includes this fitting attack on President Obama's pitiful clemency record. Here are excerpts: [There were] nine people pardoned by President Obama this month. The pardoned offenses ranged from illegal possession of government property...

Illinois state prosecutors lobbying to preserve state's death penalty

Posted on December 31, 2010
As detailed in this local Illinois piece, "Tazewell County State?s Attorney Stewart Umholtz and Peoria County State?s Attorney Kevin Lyons are asking residents in their counties to call local legislators and 'tell them to not support this politically motivated effort...

"Kidney parole condition raises ethical questions"

Posted on December 30, 2010
The title of this post is the (slightly erroneous) headline of this AP article discussing the most notable feature of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's decision yesterday (first discussed here) to condition a prisoner's release on "her donating one of her...

Fourth Circuit orders Second Amendment hearing to assess constitutionality of � 922(g)(9)

Posted on December 30, 2010
The Fourth Circuit has added a final bit of Second Amendment fireworks to close out 2010 through a long decision today in US v. Chester, No. 09-4084 (4th Cir. Dec. 30, 2010) (available here). Here is how the majority opinion...

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell not a wuss when it comes to clemency for lifers

Posted on December 30, 2010
Though Pennsylvania's outgoing Governor Ed Rendell has been in the news of late primarily because of this notable commentary concerning the NFL's decision to postpone the Eagles game due to Sunday's snowfall: "My biggest beef is that this is part...

Ohio Supreme Court decides Ice did not freeze out part of its prior Blakely ruling

Posted on December 30, 2010
Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court issued an interesting decision that had the Ohio Justices debating a post-Blakely sentencing issue that would make a great paper topic in an advanced con law seminar. The start of the majority opinion in State...

Lots of (constitutional?) issues surrounding high-profile clemency grant in Mississippi

Posted on December 30, 2010
A helpful reader altered me to this effective Washington Post article noting all the intriguing stories surrounding a decision by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour to grant clemency to two imprisoned sisters. Here are the basics: Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R)...

Any thoughts on top sentencing stories for 2010 ... and 2011?

Posted on December 29, 2010
If time, energy and family allow, I will likely do a post in the next few days in which I review my top 10 sentencing stories for 2010. A couple of the top 10 entries are pretty obvious, such as...

"F-Word in Court Equals Six-Month Prison Term"

Posted on December 29, 2010
The title of this post come from the delicate headline of this entry at the WSJ Law Blog, which effectively reviews a recent little ruling from the DC Circuit. Here are the basics (with decorum preserved by the WSJ editors):...

Might California have an ideal(?) dysfunctional(?) capital punishment scheme?

Posted on December 29, 2010
The many question marks in the title of this post is prompted by recent news of record low murder rates in Los Angeles (discussed here), together with this new piece in the Los Angeles Times headlined "California sentences more prisoners...

First Circuit discusses (and sort-of dodges) post-Booker ex post facto issue

Posted on December 28, 2010
Today through a notable opinion in US v. Rodriguez, No. 09-1429 (1st Cir. Dec. 28, 2010) (available here), a First Circuit panel thoughtfully discusses and then kind-of dodges the (circuit-splitting) issue of whether the Ex Post Facto clause limits application...

Interesting review of judicial imposition and review of death recommendations in Florida

Posted on December 28, 2010
A helpful reader alerted me to this interesting article from a local Florida paper discussing the imposition and review of death sentences in the Sunshine State. The piece it headlined "Judge faced with difficult decision; A jury recommended death for...

Notable Fifth Circuit ruling about review of guideline calculation errors

Posted on December 28, 2010
I have been remiss in not spotlighting a recent and throughtful panel ruling from the Fifth Circuit about the review of guideline calculation errors for harmlessness. The opinion was handed down last week in US v. Ibarra-Luna, No. 09-40768 (5th...

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