(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.
With all votes now counted, Arizona passes medical marijuana initiative
Posted on November 15, 2010As detailed in this new CNN piece, which is headlined "Arizona voters approve medical marijuana law," it now appears almost official that Arizona voters approved the state's medical marijuana initiative earlier this month. Here are the specifics (along with a...
"Backers of Legal Marijuana Find Silver Lining in Defeat of California Measure"
Posted on November 14, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this piece from today's New York Times. Here is how it starts: Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana in California, received more votes than the Republican nominee for governor, Meg...
Cases being dismissed in Georgia due to overcrowded dockets and lack of resources
Posted on November 14, 2010A helpful reader altered me to this notable article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which is headlined "Fulton cases thrown out because trials long delayed: More Fulton prosecutions may be thrown out on speedy-trial grounds." Here is how it starts: Kenya...
"Hundreds Die of Illnesses in County Jails"
Posted on November 14, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this piece from the Texas Tribune. Here are some excerpts: Sheriffs say that they are doing everything they can to care for people who come to them with a multitude of...
"An unusual sentence aims to make a killer remember his victim"
Posted on November 13, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this interesting and moving article from the St. Petersburg Times. Here are excerpts: The call came at 8 p.m. A 19-year-old driving a Honda Civic had lost control and gone off...
District judge calls federal prosecutors sentencing memorandum "mean-spirited"
Posted on November 12, 2010This interesting piece in the DealBook section of the New York Times reports on a federal district judge expressing significant disconcert with the aggressive sentencing recommendations of federal prosecutors in a recent high-profile white-collar case...
Inmates having to sleep on floors in overcrowded West Virginia jails
Posted on November 12, 2010This local article, which is headlined "Official says inmates sleeping on jail floors," spotlights the problems of jail overcrowding in West Virginia. Here are excerpts: Officials say the issue of over-population has reached a critical point in the state's regional...
"Pardon people, too, Mr. President"
Posted on November 12, 2010The title of this post is a fitting headline for this potent op-ed by Margaret Colgate Love in today's Washington Post. It is styled as an open letter to President Obama, and here are excerpts: Dear Mr. President, Media reports...
Law enforcement panel urging repeal of sex offender residency restrictions in California
Posted on November 12, 2010As detailed in this interesting AP article, a "law enforcement panel is recommending that California voters repeal the residency restrictions for sex offenders they approved four years ago because too many are listed as transient, making them more difficult to...
Sarah Palin hacker get a federal year-and-a-day sentence
Posted on November 12, 2010As detailed in this CBS News report, "David Kernell, the 22-year-old man who hacked into Sarah Palin's e-mail during the 2008 presidential campaign, was sentenced Friday to a year and a day, with the judge recommending a halfway house instead...
The latest data on women on death row
Posted on November 11, 2010Thanks to this post at the Death Penalty Information Center, everyone can access this new report by Professor Victor Streib concerning the administration of the death penalty for female offenders. The report spotlights that the death penalty in the United...
Are residency restrictions a main reason 100,000 sex offenders are off the grid?
Posted on November 11, 2010The question in the title of this post is prompted by this new story, which is headlined "Authorities lose track of 100,000 sex offenders." Here are the basics: Thousands of convicted sex offenders are evading state and federal authorities, congregating...
"The Sooner Hayes Is Executed, The Better"
Posted on November 11, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this potent commentary in today's Hartford Courant, to which I immediately respond "Yeah, good luck with that." Here are excerpts: The killer shall be killed ? so said the jury in...
Commentary on the decision points of pardon from President Bush
Posted on November 11, 2010Margaret Colgate Love astutely spotlighted for me a passage from President George W. Bush's new memoir about his "pardon surprise." Here is that passage along with follow-up commentary from former US Pardon Attorney Love: This is from President Bush's description...
Documenting the reentry challenges for African-American women
Posted on November 10, 2010I just got a notice from the ACS folks about this new issue brief by Professor Geneva Brown titled ?The Intersectionality of Race, Gender, and Reentry: Challenges for African-American Women.? Here is a brief description of the document: In her...
"US appeals court judge endorses legal marijuana"
Posted on November 10, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this new AP article. Here are excerpts: Judge Juan Torruella tells a law school audience in Puerto Rico that experimenting with legalization of marijuana and perhaps other drugs is a better...
Could California conduct a bunch of executions in the coming months?
Posted on November 10, 2010The question in this title of this post is prompted by this local article which notes that "there are seven inmates from [various California] counties who have exhausted all regular appeals who could have their execution date set, according to...
Talk in Arizona about budgets and the need for sentencing changes
Posted on November 10, 2010This AP story, which is headlined "Lawmakers say Arizona budget woes, prison costs could provide impetus for sentencing changes," suggests that at least one set of state legislators is talking frankly about sentencing reforms to deal with budget challenges...
"How a Fraud's Value Affects Prison Time"
Posted on November 09, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this new Wall Street Journal article. Here are excerpts: When Bruce Karatz was running KB Home, the giant home builder pulled in billions of dollars a year in revenue. But now,...
"Post Padilla: Padilla?s Puzzles for Review in State and Federal Courts"
Posted on November 09, 2010The title of this post is the title of this helpful new paper by Nancy King and Gray Proctor, which is now available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article addresses questions that may face courts as defendants seek...
Eleventh Circuit to consider en banc how Georgia implements Atkins death penalty bar
Posted on November 09, 2010A helpful reader altered me to this new order from the Eleventh Circuit, which orders en banc review in a case concerning Georgia's procedures for implementing the Supreme Court's 2002 Atkins ruling prohibiting the execution of mentally retarded persons...
Notable sex offender civil commitment ruling from NJ Supreme Court
Posted on November 09, 2010As detailed in this local article, which is headlined "N.J. Supreme Court upholds civil commitment of sex offender who was denied therapy," the top court in the Garden State issued a big ruling about sex offender civil commitment today. Here...
New poll showing US support for death penalty now at 83%
Posted on November 09, 2010This new UPI story reports the highlights of a notable new poll on US opinions about the death penalty: While 83 percent in the United States support the death penalty for murder, 81 percent say innocent people likely have been...
When and how will state GOP leaders start cutting expensive criminal justice programming?
Posted on November 08, 2010The question in the title of this post is inspired by this piece in today's New York Times, which is headlined "Now in Power, G.O.P. Vows Cuts in State Budgets." Here is how the piece begins: Republicans who have taken...
Connecticut sentencing jury deliberating at length in high-profile capital case
Posted on November 08, 2010As detailed in this new Wall Street Journal piece, which is headlined "Jury Slow to Agree on Sentence for Murderer: At Issue Is Whether Steven Hayes Will Receive Death Penalty or Life in Prison," the jury involved in the high-profile...
"Obama's Mercy Dearth"
Posted on November 08, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this potent commentary by Professor Mark Osler that ran over the weekend in the Dallas Morning News. Here are excerpts: On Oct. 28, the White House announced that President Barack Obama...
SCOTUS does a summary reversal of Seventh Circuit habeas grant
Posted on November 08, 2010The US Supreme Court today issued a summary reversal of a Seventh Circuit decision granting habeas relief to a state prisoner in Wilson v. Corcoran, No. 10?91 (S. Ct. Nov. 8, 2010) (available here). Here is how the per curiam...
PBS Frontline covering the remarkable Norfolk Four case this week
Posted on November 07, 2010PBS Frontline has been giving lots of attention to criminal justice systems this fall. A few weeks ago, the show spotlighted the Todd Willingham case in "Death By Fire." And this week Frontline will broadcast a new documentary "The Confessions,"...
"Ankle monitors: a high-demand accessory for minor criminals"
Posted on November 07, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this notable and fascinating new article from today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (Hat tip to the frequent must-read website The Crime Report.) Here are excerpts: Electronic monitoring devices, black anklets made of rubber...
Protests and talk of federal follow-up after two-year state sentence give to BART officer for homicide
Posted on November 07, 2010As detailed in this local article, which is headlined "Scores arrested in Oakland protests over BART officer Mehserle," the relatively short sentence given to an officer convicted in a high-profile homicide case in California has once again stirred up community...
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. |