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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.
Hillary Clinton as a criminal defense lawyer
Posted on February 25, 2008This big Newday article provides me with proof that I can still learn something new about someone whom I thought I knew everything about. Here are small snippets of a long piece that may be an especially interesting read for...
State amici shut out, SG gets extra time: is the fix in in Heller?
Posted on February 25, 2008For anyone (like me) eager to see a robust Second Amendment right protected by the courts, today's Supreme Court order list concerning argument time in Heller provides an ominous tea leaf to read. Tony Mauro in this post provides the...
SCOTUS Cuellar case continues Term of statutory interpretation and sentencing
Posted on February 25, 2008For legal process and statutory interpretation geeks like me, the criminal cases on the SCOTUS docket this Term are so intriguing. As I have noted before, the Court has taken up a number of ACCA sentencing statutory interpretation cases this...
Notable commentary on Danforth
Posted on February 25, 2008Michael Dorf has this new FrindLaw essay titled "Did Justice Stevens Pull a Fast One? The Hidden Logic of a Recent Retroactivity Case in the Supreme Court." Here is how it starts: Last week, in Danforth v. Minnesota, the U.S....
New academic paper on acquitted conduct after Booker
Posted on February 24, 2008As regular readers know, I have strong feelings about acquitted conduct sentencing enhancements after Blakely and Booker (and these feelings are surely impacted by the fact that I have beeing involved in a lot of post-Booker acquitted conduct appellate litigation)...
Can we learn anything from five months without executions?
Posted on February 24, 2008The last execution in the United States was on September 25, 2007. That date was the day that the Supreme Court's announced it would be reviewing the constitutionality of lethal injection protocols, and Michael Richard was executed in Texas that...
The crack retroactivity story in my backyard
Posted on February 24, 2008Another story about the implementation of the new federal crack guidelines can be found this morning in my home-town Columbus Dispatch. Here are the highlights: The number of crack-cocaine dealers and users who could be released early from federal prison...
Sentencing delayed is sentencing reduced (with victim's help)
Posted on February 23, 2008It is often said that justice delayed is justice denied, but this remarkable sentencing story from today's New York Times, headlined "4 Decades After Shooting, Effort to Make Punishment Fit the Crime," puts a different spin on that aphorism. Here...
Technology, smart guns, GPS tracking and a better Second Amendment
Posted on February 23, 2008I just noticed on SSRN this effective short article about the modern Second Amendment debated headlined "Public Safety and the Right to Bear Arms." I found the final paragraph of the piece especially insightful: [A better Second Amendment debate would...
Another story about the local implementation of the new crack guidelines
Posted on February 23, 2008Today the local details of crack retroactivity come from this piece in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, headlined "Crack cocaine inmates may gain early release." Here are snippets: Convicted crack dealer John J. Betts got a break in his federal prison...
More coverage of crack retroactivity realities
Posted on February 22, 2008The Friday papers bring these two notable stories about the new retroactive crack guidelines. From the Washingont Post here, "Crack Offenders Set for Release Mostly Nonviolent, Study Says": Most of the more than 1,500 crack cocaine offenders who are immediately...
Interesting coverage of mental illness and sentencing in Harvard Law Review
Posted on February 22, 2008I had the honor of writing for "Developments in the Law" and then serving as Developments Chair during my years on the Harvard Law Review. Consequently, I am especially proud to see that this year's Developments in the Law is...
Brit bankers get American plea bargained justice in Enron-related sentencing
Posted on February 22, 2008This new post at the WSJ Law Blog, titled "NatWest Three Get 37 Months Each," covers this interesting Friday afternoon sentencing story: The curtains are closing on the corporate-law drama of the ages. And three of its final players, we...
Split Third Circuit ruling on guideline calculation errors after Booker
Posted on February 22, 2008The Third Circuit today issued a long split-panel opinion in US v. Langford, No. 06-2774 (3d Cir. Feb. 22, 2008) (available here), which provides yet another remind of how many tough issues Booker created for appellate courts trying to make...
The potential downsides of sex offender residency restrictions
Posted on February 22, 2008The Los Angeles Times today has this notable article on sex offender residency restrictions, headlined "Jessica's Law may increase crime risks: State officials say danger of sex offenders may rise as legal provisions lead to more homelessness." Here are snippets:...
The need for more litigating (and teaching) of prisoners' rights
Posted on February 22, 2008As hinted in this post discussing parts of the terrific U Penn Eighth Amendment symposium last week, I came away from the conference thinking that a lot more lawyer (and law school) time and energy should be devoted to dealing...
First Circuit weighs in on Rule 32(h) issue soon to be addressed by SCOTUS
Posted on February 21, 2008As noted just earlier today, the Supreme Court will soon hear argument in Irizarry (basics here and here), a case which will force the Justice to explore "departures" and "variances" in the context of Rule 32(h)'s application after Booker. Perhaps...
Interesting crack retroactivity letters sent around to judges
Posted on February 21, 2008Though all the details will surely get lost in the broader politics of the day, the little stories surrounding crack retroactivity continue to fascinate me. And, thanks to a friend of the blog, I can post here two interesting new...
Breaking news: prosecutors and defense attorneys disagree on the death penalty
Posted on February 21, 2008Though the title of this post is snarky, this new article in the Los Angeles Times ? headlined "Lawyers divided on death penalty system: Prosecutors and defense attorneys tell a state panel that the system is dysfunctional but differ on...
Exploring the relationship between departures and variances after Booker
Posted on February 21, 2008Later this Term, the Supreme Court will hear argument in Irizarry (basics here and here), a case which may force the Justice to directly explore the status and relationship of "traditional departures" and "Booker variances" in an advisory guideline system...
How crack retroactivity is being applied in Massachusetts
Posted on February 21, 2008This morning's Boston Globe has this new story, headlined "US shift may free up to 30 inmates: Judges here trim prison time for crack convictions," which reports on how the new crack guidelines are being applied in Massachusetts federal courts....
Missouri high court limits application of sex offender residency restriction
Posted on February 21, 2008Thanks to this post at Sex Crimes, I see that the Ohio Supreme Court is not alone in issuing an important ruling limiting the application of a state residency restriction. As detailed in this AP story, though "a unanimous ruling...
How might a private prison exec sentence as a federal judge?
Posted on February 21, 2008Thanks to How Appealing, I just saw this intriguing article from Mother Jones magazine, which is headlined "Meet Bush's Prison Nominee: Tennessee's next trial court judge might be a prison company executive who has less courtroom experience than most inmates...
Homeward bound, I'm glad juves are
Posted on February 20, 2008With apologies to riffing from a great song from one of my all-time favorites, this piece from today's New York Times gives sentencing folks a reason to hum a happy tune. The article is headlined "A Home Remedy for Juvenile...
Danforth's articulation of criminal justice federalism
Posted on February 20, 2008There is so much of interest in the Supreme Court's Danforth opinion (basics here), and I'm not sure where to begin my analysis. So, to start, I'll just highlight this great passage from the majority opinion: This interest in uniformity,...
Ohio Supreme Court narrows state's sex offender residency restriction
Posted on February 20, 2008As detailed in this official press release, the "Supreme Court of Ohio held today that, because a 2003 state law barring certain sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of a school does not expressly provide that its provisions apply...
SCOTUS embraces criminal justice federalism in Danforth
Posted on February 20, 2008The big criminal justice opinion from SCOTUS today is in Danforth, which Lyle Denniston effectively summarizes in this post. Here are highlights of Lyle's summary: Dividing 7-2, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that states, under their own laws or constitutions,...
Aren't extreme sentences and mass incarceration a "tired philosophy that trusts in government more than people"?
Posted on February 20, 2008This phrase in John McCain's speech last night really caught my attention as a sentencing geek: in his most-quoted line, Senator McCain cautions against "the false promises and failed policies of a tired philosophy that trusts in government more than...
Corrupt GOP contributor gets long below-guideline sentence
Posted on February 20, 2008As detailed in this Washington Post story, a high-profile corruption sentencing took place yesterday in which the defendant got a dozen years in prison and should feel lucky he did not get a lot more: Brent R. Wilkes, a California...
When might the USSC have some post-Gall/Kimbrough data to share?
Posted on February 19, 2008It has now been more than two full months since the Supreme Court decisions in Gall and Kimbrough, and I am really wondering if these rulings have had a significant impact on district court sentencing outcomes. From various conversations and...
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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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