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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.
Feds pursuing death penalty for violent gang members
Posted on October 17, 2010As detailed in this new NPR story, which is headlined "Death To Gang Members: The Feds' New Tactic," the US Justice Department has started to try a new approach to taking on violent gangs: Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umana has an...
Lots of law profs sign petition support California's pot proposition
Posted on October 15, 2010As Ilya Somin notes in this post over at The Volokh Conspiracy, the group Yes on 19 has posted here a petition by law professors in support of the California proposition that would decriminalize marijuana in that state. As Ilya...
Significant findings on the varied impacts sex offender registration/notification regimes
Posted on October 15, 2010This press release from the Medical University of South Carolina, which is headlined "Questioning the Effectiveness of Sex Offender Registries," reports on some notable new research findings concerning sex offender registration/notification regimes. Here are some highlights: Two federally-funded MUSC studies...
Examining the challenges of dealing with violent juve offenders
Posted on October 15, 2010The Orlando Sentinel has this effective new piece, headlined "Cycle of crime: Ever more young offenders sent to Florida adult courts," which examines the criminal justice challenges posed by violent juvenile offenders. Here are excerpts from the piece: [A]n increasing...
US Sentencing Commission action to implement FSA and new crack guidelines
Posted on October 15, 2010As detailed in this public notice, the United States Sentencing Commission has a public meeting scheduled for this afternoon in DC, and the agenda includes "Possible Vote to Promulgate Emergency, Temporary Amendment (implementing the statutory changes regarding crack cocaine offenses...
FSR October 2010 issue, "Life Without Parole," now available on-line
Posted on October 15, 2010I am pleased to report that the October issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter, which is full of cutting edge analysis and commentary on the topic of "Life Without Parole, is now available on-line. The Table of Contents for this...
Vrdolyak gets 10 months in prison upon resentencing after Seventh Circuit reversal of his probation term
Posted on October 15, 2010As detailed in this local article, which is headlined "10 Months in Prison for 'Fast Eddie' Vrdolyak: Previous sentence for guilty plea on mail, wire fraud charges was overturned by appellate court. A high-profile resentencing produced a higher sentence the...
New York gets a permanant commission to help with sentencing "mess"
Posted on October 14, 2010As reported in this New York Daily News article, which is headlined "Blue-ribbon panel commissioned to examine New York's sentencing laws," the Empire State has a new sentencing institution. Here are the particulars: A blue-ribbon panel headed by a Brooklyn...
Sentencing jury in high-profile Connecticut case will not get to hear about capital costs
Posted on October 14, 2010As detailed in this AP article, which is headlined "Conn. judge: Jury can't consider execution cost, " a state trial judge has today "ruled that a Connecticut man convicted of a deadly home invasion cannot bring up the cost of...
Potent dissent from the Sixth Circuit's denial of en banc review in Kentucky capital habeas case
Posted on October 14, 2010Sixth Circuit judge Boyce Martin has a provocative dissent to this Sixth Circuit order denying rehearing en banc in the habeas action of a Kentucky death row inmate. Judge Martin's dissent gets started and ends this way: The rape and...
"Where Do Your Representatives Stand On Pot?"
Posted on October 14, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this notable local story out of San Diego, which gets started this way: Elected officials in San Diego are either opposed to Proposition 19 or don?t want to make their position...
High-profile murders drive even higher broad support in Connecticut for the death penalty
Posted on October 13, 2010Though all the standard political news and punditry would lead one to believe that most Americans cannot agree on anything, this local story from Connecticut provides another reminder that support for the death penalty often draws lots of support, especially...
New York country creates first animal abuser registry with penalties for failing to register
Posted on October 13, 2010As detailed in this local article, headlined "Suffolk approves animal abuse registry bill," a prominent county in New York has pioneered a new kind of criminal registry. Here are the basics: The Suffolk County Legislature unanimously approved a bill Tuesday...
"The Contradictions of Juvenile Crime & Punishment"
Posted on October 13, 2010The title of this post is the title of a new piece by Jeff Fagan, which appears in the terrific recent issue of Daedalus concerning mass incarcertation and is available here via SSRN. Here is abstract: This essay explores the...
Costs of capital punishment getting the spotlight in Connecticut case
Posted on October 13, 2010As detailed in this local article, which is headlined "Steven Hayes Defense Outlines High Cost Of Putting Someone To Death," the significant economic costs of capital punishment has moved from policy debate into a legal argument in one high-profile case...
"The Standardless Second Amendment"
Posted on October 13, 2010The title of this post is the title of this new Issue Brief authored by Tina Mehr and Adam Winkler coming from the American Constitution Society. At this link, here is how ACS describes the piece: ACS is pleased to...
Notable Seventh Circuit opinion reversing (on procedural grounds) long drug curriar sentence
Posted on October 13, 2010The Seventh Circuit has a interesting sentencing opinion today in US v. Saenz, No. 09-3647 (7th Cir. Oct. 13, 2010) (available here), which gets started this way: Cruz Saenz received a whopping 293-month sentence for transporting drug money on one...
"The Efficacy of Severe Child Pornography Sentencing: Empirical Validity or Political Rhetoric?"
Posted on October 12, 2010The title of this post is the title of this new article by Melissa Hamilton that is forthcoming in the Stanford Law & Policy Review and is now available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: The federal sentencing guidelines for...
NY Times op-ed spotlights extreme jury sentences in Mississippi
Posted on October 12, 2010Today's New York Times includes this remarkable op-ed by Bob Herbert concerning a pair of extreme sentences in Mississippi. The piece is headlined "So Utterly Inhumane, and here are excerpts: You have to believe that somebody really had it in...
Three intriguing SCOTUS cert grants on criminal justice issues
Posted on October 12, 2010As detailed in this SCOTUSblog post, this morning the Supreme Court "issued an order list from last week?s Conference that included grants of certiorari, denials of certiorari, and an invitation for the Acting Solicitor General to file a brief expressing...
"Legally Loaded: Marijuana Today -- Cocaine and Heroin Tomorrow?"
Posted on October 12, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this notable commentary now appearing at the Huffington Post authored by Dr. Howard Samuels, a psychotherapist. Here are some interesting excerpts: As a father of three children -- Cooper 9, Greer...
If you love debates over IAC and AEDPA standards...
Posted on October 12, 2010you will want to make sure to check out the oral argument transcripts from the Supreme Court arguments that took place today in Harrington v. Richter (case background here; oral argument transcript here) and Premo v. Moore (case background here;...
New Sentencing Project report on reform of felony disenfranchisement laws
Posted on October 12, 2010Via e-mail I received today a notice about this new report from The Sentencing Project, as well as this summary description of its contents: Since 1997, 800,000 persons have regained the right to vote as a result of felony disenfranchisement...
"Thinking About White-Collar Crime and Punishment"
Posted on October 11, 2010The title of this post is the title of an effective short piece from Professor Bruce Green, which is in the latest issue of the ABA publication Criminal Justice and can be found here via SSRN. Here is the abstract:...
New blog examining the "intersection between criminal law and emerging technology"
Posted on October 11, 2010I am pleased to learn about this new blog, intriguingly named "Stockycat," which is "focused non-exclusively on the intersection between criminal law and emerging technology" and says it is "[d]edicated to the idea that effective law enforcement is not incompatible...
"With more prisoners and no place to put them, Kansas faces hard choices"
Posted on October 11, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this lengthy article from the Kansas City Star. Here is how it starts: A few years ago, Kansas had figured out how to control its prison population. It had solved the...
Today is "World Day Against the Death Penalty" and it is dedicated to US this year
Posted on October 10, 2010USA, USA, USA!! Though American golfers were unable to beat the Europeans to bring home the Ryder Cup this year, I suppose some may want to take some (perverse?) pride in the fact that the abolitionist community in Europe are...
Could (and should?) expanded good-time credits help reverse mass incarceration?
Posted on October 10, 2010The question in the title of this post is inspired by this effective local article from Washington state, which is headlined "Will the State Bring Back Half-Off Sentences for Good Behavior?". The piece highlights that in most states it is...
Assailing too-broad internet bans as part of a sentence
Posted on October 10, 2010The National Law Journal has this notable new commentary headlined "Banned from the Internet: Prohibiting a defendant on probation from conducting any business online is overly restrictive and not reasonably related to legitimate sentencing goals." The piece is authored by...
Pardoning news and notes from the rust belt
Posted on October 10, 2010With some state Governors already or possibly soon to be in lame-duck-mode and with the winter holidays on the near horizon, the season for clemency and pardon requests and grants is heating up. This past week brought these notable pardoning...
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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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