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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.
Should and will NY Governor Elliot Spitzer be prosecuted by the feds?
Posted on March 10, 2008Breaking crime news from the New York Times: New York Governor "Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the...
New York Times editorial on "Prison Nation"
Posted on March 10, 2008Joining the chorus of papers commenting on the recent Pew Center report, "One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008" (discussed here), today the New York Times has this editorial titled "Prison Nation." Here are excerpts: After three decades of...
Might crime and punishment finally start drawing the attention of the candidates and the media?
Posted on March 10, 2008After tomorrow's Mississippi primary, there will be no votes cast in the presidential races for six weeks. This rest period should give the candidates and the media a chance to focus on important issues facing the national that have so...
Looking at the real stories of the death penalty in NYC
Posted on March 10, 2008This morning's New York Times has this fascinating piece, headlined "Aversion to Death Penalty, but No Lack of Cases," exploring capital prosecutions in New York by federal authorities. Here are excerpts: In the 20 years since the federal death penalty...
Fostering self-help in tracking sex offenders
Posted on March 09, 2008The New York Times has this interesting article about sex offender tracking, headlined "Woman With a Mission: Keeping Tabs on Sex Offenders." Here are excerpts: For the past decade, Ms. [Laura] Ahearn has been painstakingly compiling such information about sex...
Interesting capital news from China
Posted on March 09, 2008Both Reuters and BBC News report on interesting death penalty developments from China. Here is the start of the Reuters report: China's top court has rejected 15 percent of death sentences handed by lower courts, citing poor evidence and procedural...
Another insightful prosecutorial perspective on modern federal sentencing
Posted on March 09, 2008I noted here a new article by Dan Richman focused on the story of federal prosecutors in the wake of Booker. I now see on SSRN is this fascinating new piece by Michael Simons in the same vein. This article...
More criticism of sex offender residency restrictions
Posted on March 08, 2008Providing another interesting perspective on sex offender residency restrictions is this new piece on SSRN from Asmara Johnson, titled "In the Zone: Sex Offenders and the Ten Percent Solutions." Here is the abstract: This Article challenges prevailing judicial orthodoxy that...
Shaming a child and the wisdom(?) of parental punishment
Posted on March 08, 2008As detailed in this local Florida story, headlined "Teen Forced To Carry 'I Am Stupid' Sign After Speeding Ticket," a mother recently made headlines by imposing a shaming punishment on her reckless son. Here are the basic details: Adam Clark...
Another strong editorial on mass incarceration
Posted on March 07, 2008The Newark Star-Ledger has this editorial expressing concerns with the practicalities and politics of modern mass incarceration. Here is how it starts: For the first time in history, more than one in every 100 adults in the nation is in...
Might the ugly Clinton pardons start getting some campaign traction?
Posted on March 07, 2008As I have noted previously, P.S. Ruckman over at Pardon Power is doing a great job keeping track of how the Bill Clinton's ugly clemency record could be a big issue in Senator Clinton's presidential campaign. Here are some notable...
A killer conference at Fordham
Posted on March 07, 2008Staring this morning is this conference in New York on lethal injection sponsored by the Fordham Urban Law Journal. I have the honor to be monitoring a panel on saturday morning, and here is a preview of topics to be...
"One nation, behind bars"
Posted on March 06, 2008The Detroit Free Press has this potent editorial with this same title as this post. Here are excerpts: The U.S. prison population, the world's largest, has grown nearly eightfold over the past 35 years and now costs taxpayers at least...
Let the sunshine in ... to SCOTUS and all other federal courts
Posted on March 06, 2008I am extraordinarily pleased to see this news that today the "Senate Judiciary Committee today passed out a bill that would allow TV coverage of all federal courts." Here's more from Lawrence Hurley's interesting report: The committee has approved similar...
Exposing the (racist?) hypocrisy of Clintonian speeches without solutions
Posted on March 06, 2008I am pleased to see this new piece at the Huffington Post, titled "Hillary, Bill and Obama on Crack," is trying to bring the Clintons to account for their disappointing and very telling pandering on federal sentencing issues. Here are...
The costs of the death penalty in Maryland
Posted on March 06, 2008Thanks to this post at How Appealing, I see that the Baltimore Sun has this notable article headlined "Death penalty costs Md. more than life term." Here are excerpts: The death penalty has cost Maryland taxpayers at least $186 million...
This morning's crack sentencing coverage
Posted on March 06, 2008Another day and another set of newspaper articles and commentaries on crack retroactivity. Here's a sample: From Chicago Tribune here, "Crack cocaine prison terms may be eased" From the Louisville Courier-Journal here, "New rule may cut jail time for 300...
Are sex offender registries effective?
Posted on March 06, 2008A new paper available here via SSRN asks "Do Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws Affect Criminal Behavior?". The piece is authored by J.J. Prescott and Jonah Rockoff, and here is their abstract: In recent decades, sex offenders have been....
Early reports on crack retroactivity implementation
Posted on March 05, 2008This new Washington Post article ? headlined "Government Starts Cutting Sentences Of Crack Inmates: Bureau of Prisons Processes 400 Orders" ? provides news from the front lines in the implementation of the new crack guidelines. Here are the basics: The...
Tenth Circuit splits over reasonableness of below-guideline sentence
Posted on March 05, 2008In a lengthy decision, a split Tenth Circuit panel upheld the reasonableness of a below-guideline sentence in a sex offense case in US v. Smart, No. No. 06-6120 (10th Cir. Mar. 4, 2008)(available here). Here is how the majority opinion...
A new note on sex offender residency restrictions
Posted on March 05, 2008Thanks to this post at CO, I see a new note on sex offender residency restrictions from the Northwestern University Law Review. This piece ? Sarah E. Agudo, Irregular Passion: The Unconstitutionality and Inefficacy of Sex Offender Residency Laws, 102...
Eighth Circuit affirms large above-guideline sentence
Posted on March 05, 2008The Eighth Circuit today in US v. Austad, No. 07-1376 (8th Cir. Mar. 5, 2008) (available here), affirms an above-guideline sentence with heavy reliance on Gall. Here is the start and end: Christopher Austad (Austad) pled guilty to mailing threatening...
UK looking at a market-incentive approach to prison and prisoner reform
Posted on March 04, 2008This new article from the Guardian reviews a fascinating set of UK developments that ought to intrigue any and all would-be US criminal justice reforms. The piece is headlined "Tories plan bonuses for prison governors who cut reoffending," and here...
Research on capital punishment's impact on plea deals
Posted on March 04, 2008Though the article itself is not available for free, this new posting on SSRN spotlights an issue that I have long thought critical to really understanding the death penalty's true impact on modern criminal justice systems. The article by Ilyana...
Some of the newspaper coverage of now effective crack retroactivity
Posted on March 04, 2008Though the USSC's official website still doesn't have any official notice that its new crack guidelines are now officially retroactive (background here), the traditional print media has lots of crack coverage. Here are just a few links: From the AP...
After 220 years, should the Second Amendment stay minimalist?
Posted on March 04, 2008Larry Tribe has this op-ed today about the Heller Second Amendment case in the Wall Street Journal, headlined "Sanity and the Second Amendment: Individuals have a right to bear arms -- but not any arms, anywhere." I found the closing...
A must-read on the politics of sentencing on a big election day
Posted on March 04, 2008Just before I head out to vote, I got an e-mail from Stephanos Bibas with this message: "Max Schanzenbach, Emerson Tiller, and I have just completed and submitted for publication the enclosed essay, entitled Policing Politics at Sentencing. We hope...
Two important (but unpublished!?!) defendant wins in the Eighth Circuit
Posted on March 04, 2008I am not sure what bother me more: the fact that federal defendants rarely prevail in sentencing appeals or the fact that when they do some circuit seem eager to suggest these rulings are inconsequential by deciding they should be...
Q: "Hey, lawyer, you've just figured out crack retroactivity, now what are ya going to do?"
Posted on March 04, 2008A: "I'm going to DisneyWorld! ... But only after I attend this terrific the Seventeenth Annual National Seminar on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, co-sponsored by the US Sentencing Commission and the Federal Bar Association, which is scheduled for May 21-23...
New lower USSC crack guidelines now officially retroactive
Posted on March 03, 2008There has already been a lot of local and national action concerning the retroactive application of the lower US Sentencing Commission crack guidelines. But today (Monday, March 3, 2008) is the official effective date for the retroactive application of the...
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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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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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