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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.
Making the case for sentencing reform in the form of "Mandatory Minimalism"
Posted on September 26, 2010I am pleased to see this new article, titled "Mandatory Minimalism," about reforming mandatory minimum sentencing statutes authored by Professors Paul Cassell and Erik Luna. (Though Cassell was once a federal judge, luna is likely now more famous for once...
Taking stock of fraud law and cases impacted by the SCOTUS Skilling ruling
Posted on September 25, 2010Today's Wall Street Journal includes this effective article headlined "Fraud Cases Get Rehashed After Court Ruling." Here are excerpts: Federal lawmakers and Justice Department officials are weighing new legislation to salvage a fraud statute used to pursue corporate and public...
Can GOP "Pledge to America" be read to suggest drawing down federal involvement in the drug war?
Posted on September 24, 2010The federal GOP leaders who put together the new "Pledge to America" (available here and here) obviously did not give much thought to the drug war and mass incarceration. In fact, I searched in vain for any significant mention of...
"Misconduct cases taint justice in Iowa"
Posted on September 24, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this new article in the Des Moines Register, which provides a local follow-up to the blockbuster report on federal prosecutorial misconduct published yesterday in USA Today (discussed here). Here are excerpts...
"Why Parents Should Support Legalizing Pot"
Posted on September 24, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this notable commentary at AlterNet by Hanna Liebman Dershowitz, a lawyer in California who is co-chair of the Proposition 19 legal subcommittee. Here are excerpts: My son just started kindergarten. So...
Some notable execution news and notes (outside Virginia)
Posted on September 24, 2010Virginia has been at the center of debates over executions and the administration the death penalty in recent weeks because of the Teresa Lewis case. But, with Lewis being executed last night (details here), today the focus turns to a...
Federal ruling seems to push California toward one-drug execution protocol
Posted on September 24, 2010As detailed in this new article in the San Jose Mercury News, which is headlined "Judge may allow execution to go forward," California is (perhaps?) getting closer to resume executions after a five year hiatus. Here are the particulars from...
Lindsay Lohan saga continues, as she is hauled off to jail again
Posted on September 24, 2010As detailed in this CBS News piece, the latest installment of a (now tiresome?) starlet drama unfolded in a Los Angeles courtroom today: Actress Lindsay Lohan is back behind bars after failing a court-ordered drug test. A Los Angeles judge...
Ninth Circuit rejects Eighth Amendment challenge to LWOP for second offense of child molestation
Posted on September 23, 2010The Ninth Circuit has an interesting habeas sentencing opinion today in Norris v. Morgan, No. 08-35645 (9th Cir. Sept. 23, 2010) (available here). Here is how it gets started: Brach E. Norris was convicted by a jury of child molestation...
USA Today exposes a "pattern of serious, glaring misconduct" among federal prosecutors
Posted on September 23, 2010A helpful reader alerted me to this potent and disturbing new piece in USA Today headlined "Prosecutors' conduct can tip justice scales." Here are a few excerpts: Federal prosecutors are supposed to seek justice, not merely score convictions. But a...
Notable Third Circuit ruling in CVRA case concerning victim's right to counsel involvement
Posted on September 23, 2010A helpful reader forwarded me a notable little ruling from the Third Circuit earlier this week concerning whether the Crime Victims Rights Act gives victims a right to have their counsel involved in sentencing proceedings. The short ruling in In...
Virginia carries out execution of Teresa Lewis
Posted on September 23, 2010As detailed in this new Washington Post story, "Teresa Lewis, who plotted with a young lover to kill her husband and stepson for insurance money, became the first woman executed in Virginia in nearly 100 years Thursday night when she...
"Jailhouse Stocks Slip as Trends Shift"
Posted on September 23, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this notable piece from The Street, which provides a market-based perspective on the private prison industry. Here are excerpts: Corrections Corp. of America (CXW) and Geo Group (GEO), the largest U.S....
Top House Republican complaining that Obama administration is not fighting drug war hard enough
Posted on September 22, 2010As detailed in this report from The Hill, which is headlined "Republican: Obama administration fosters use of marijuana," at least one House Republican wants the Obama Administration to keep growing one part of the federal government: Rep. Lamar Smith (Texas)...
Can/should a sentencing judge increase a drug sentence because a defendant is an illegal alien?
Posted on September 22, 2010The question in the title of this post splits an Eighth Circuit panel today in US v. Loaiza-Sanchez, No. 09-2999 (8th Cir. Sept. 22, 2010) (available here). Here is how the majority opinion starts: Hector Loaiza-Sanchez and Jose Luis Juarez-Gonzalez....
Fascinating split Fourth Circuit ruling on forced medication to make white-collar offender competent for trial
Posted on September 22, 2010The Fourth Circuit has a fascinating discussion of both forced medication issues and white-collar sentencing realities today in US v. White, No. 09-7933 (4th Cir. Sept. 22, 2010) (available here). Here are excerpts from the start and end of the...
Latest California efforts to get back into the execution business
Posted on September 22, 2010As detailed in this front-page article in today's San Francisco Chronicle, the state with the nation's largest death row may be getting ever closer to resuming executions after a nearly five-year hiatus prompted by concerns about the state's lethal injection...
"Sexting or Self-Produced Child Pornography?"
Posted on September 22, 2010The title of this post is part of the title of this new piece by Professor Mary Leary that is available via SSRN. The full title of the article is "Sexting or Self-Produced Child Pornography? The Dialogue Continues ? Structured...
Justice Elena Kagan's first significant vote is against a stay of Teresa Lewis's execution
Posted on September 22, 2010As detailed in major stories from the AP and CNN and other major media sources, late yesterday the US Supreme Court refused to stay the scheduled execution of Teresa Lewis, the condemned woman sent to death row for her role...
Another sad example of a needless death because of weak sentences for drunk driving
Posted on September 21, 2010Regular readers who know of my persistent complaints and concerns about lenient drink driving sentences will not be surprised that I am troubled by this local story, which is headlined "Woman gets 11 years for fatal DUI crash -- her...
"Risk as a Proxy for Race"
Posted on September 21, 2010The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper by Professor Bernard Harcourt available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: Today, an increasing chorus argues that risk-assessment instruments are a politically feasible way to resolve our...
Georgia execution delayed after failed suicide (DIY?) effort by condemned
Posted on September 21, 2010I am struggling to figure out how best to portray this (sad? telling? ironic?) AP story out of Georgia, which is headlined "Georgia execution delayed after suicide attempt." Here are the details: The Georgia Supreme Court is delaying the execution...
Delaware editorial (strangely?) assails providing sentencing judges with punishment cost data
Posted on September 21, 2010Following up the recent stories on Missouri's new sentencing innovations (background here and here), The News Journal (of Delaware) has this notable new editorial headlined "Judicial trends no place to solve fiscal dilemmas." Here are excerpts: An advisory committee established...
Extraordinary symposium on "The Past and Future of Empirical Sentencing Research"
Posted on September 21, 2010As detailed at this website and in this news release, the University of Albany's School of Criminal Justice has planned for later this week an extraordinary two-day event called "The Symposium on Crime and Justice: The Past and Future of...
"Iran claims double standard in death penalty cases"
Posted on September 21, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this new AP article, which gets started this way: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticized Western media for having a double standard in reporting on the case of an American woman...
"State Crime Victim Recoveries"
Posted on September 21, 2010The title of this post is the title of this interesting-looking new paper available via SSRN on state victim restitution policies and practicalities. Here is the abstract: Crime victim recoveries are typically available in American states through three separate, but...
Split Sixth Circuit upholds federal mandatory LWOP sentence based on priors committed when a juve
Posted on September 21, 2010In a case involving another defendant named Graham, a split panel of the Sixth Circuit has upheld a mandatory minimum LWOP sentence against a challenge that seeks to extend the reach of the Supreme Court's Eighth Amendment work in Graham...
AG Eric Holder stating that DOJ sentencing recommendations will be released "later this year"
Posted on September 21, 2010Long-time readers may recall that I was pleased when, way back in early 2009, then-new Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department was conducting a comprehensive internal review of federal sentencing and corrections issues. I was pleased in...
Notable dissent from Ninth Circuit denial of en banc review of probation sentence for "big-time thief"
Posted on September 20, 2010As detailed in this post from back in February, a split Ninth Circuit panel in US v. Edwards, No. 08-30055 (9th Cir. Feb. 16, 2010) (available here), upheld as substantively reasonable a probation sentence given to convicted fraudster Duncan Edwards,...
"Paris Hilton Gets Year's Probation, No Jail"
Posted on September 20, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this hard-hitting piece from People magazine, which provides the latest sentencing news on the latest development in the celebrity war on drugs. Here are the plea and sentencing details (with a...
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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?
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