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Criminal Law

Sentencing Law and Policy

News, issues, commentary and provides resources related to sentencing law and policy.
By Douglas A. Berman

Post Frequency: 77.7/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 10:54:24

Second Circuit reverses another child porn sentence based on its Dorvee opinion

Posted on July 16, 2010
As regular readers may recall, the Second Circuit issued back in May a significant reasonableness ruling in the child porn Dorvee case (basics here; commentary here). Today in US v. Tutty, No. 09-2705 (2d Cir. July 16, 2010) (available here),...

Brady Center VP already making much of Seventh Circuit's ruling in Skoein

Posted on July 16, 2010
In a week full of eventful circuit opinion, the Seventh Circuit significant Second Amendment ruling in Skoien from earlier this week (basics here, commentary here) still seems to me to be the most noteworthy. Conforming my view is this new...

Two notable criminal justice initiatives to be on Oregon ballot in November

Posted on July 16, 2010
As detailed in this local article, which is headlined "Crime, medical marijuana initiatives qualify for Nov. 2," Oregon now joins Arizona and California (and others?) with marijuana ballot initiatives going before voters this fall. In addition, as the article further...

Eleventh Circuit affirms convictions and 3-year prison sentence of Wesley Snipes for tax crimes

Posted on July 16, 2010
A busy week for notable federal circuit court rulings in criminal cases concludes with a major league Eleventh Circuit ruling affirming the convictions and sentence of Passenger 57 for tax crimes. The unanimous panel decision in US v. Snipes gets...

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NBA's Delonte West sentenced (lightly? harshly?) for weapons offenses in Maryland

Posted on July 15, 2010
The fact that the Supeme Court has now made clear that the Second Amendment applies to the states apparently did not prompt NBA player Delonte West or his lawyer to think he ought to try to fight his prosecution for...

Interesting research on sex offender registration and home sales

Posted on July 15, 2010
I just saw via SSRN this intriguing criminology paper titled "Estimating the Effect of Crime Risk on Property Values and Time on Market: Evidence from Megan?s Law in Virginia." Here is the abstract: This paper explores the effect that living...

Notable press account of Skoein Second Amendment ruling with partisan perspectives

Posted on July 15, 2010
The AP has this notable new piece, headlined "Court's decision offers some clarity on gun laws," discussing the Seventh Circuit significant Second Amendment ruling in Skoien from earlier this week. Here are some highlights: A federal appeals court upheld a...

An amusing spat in the Third Circuit over a not-very-brief sentencing brief

Posted on July 15, 2010
This piece from The Legal Intelligencer, which is headlined "Convicted Politician's Attorneys Urge Federal Appeals Court to Bounce Big Brief," reports on a preliminary bout in the Third Circuit that is kicking off an appellate fight over the proper sentence...

Any predictions for today's scheduled resentencing of Lynne Stewart?

Posted on July 15, 2010
As detailed in this AP piece, which is headlined "Government Seeks Tough Sentence Against NY Lawyer; NY Lawyer Who Helped Relay Messages From Blind Egyptian Sheik Could Get Much Longer Sentence," today is the scheduled resentencing of Lynne Stewart. Here...

Lynne Stewart gets 10-year federal prison sentence the second time around

Posted on July 15, 2010
As detailed in this AP article, Lynne Stewart "was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison in a terrorism case by a judge who boosted her original sentence by nearly eight years after concluding she lied to a jury and...

Is DOJ eager for (and obliquely urging) reducing the severity of the federal guideline for child porn downloading?

Posted on July 14, 2010
Among the many interesting aspect of the letter sent last month by the Justice Department's Criminal Division to the US Sentencing Commission (basics here) is its discussion of possible reform of the sentencing guidelines for child porn offenses. Consider, in...

Should we be troubled that some registered sex offenders can get a US passport?

Posted on July 14, 2010
This new piece at CNN, which is headlined "Thousands of sex offenders receive U.S. passports," seem to be trying to get folks alarmed about something that does not seem to me to be too alarming. Here are the basics: Thousands...

Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds sentence despite judge's reference to defendant's "baby mama"

Posted on July 14, 2010
As noted in this post from January 2009, an intermediate Wisconsin court had ordered a new sentencing hearing for a drug defendant because the sentencing judge referred to the man's "baby mama" and asked him where "you guys" find women...

Skoien and the many challenges of Second Amendment jurisprudence

Posted on July 14, 2010
The Seventh Circuit's Skoien en banc ruling yesterday, which via this opinion by Chief Judge Easterbrook, rejects a Second Amendment challenge to the federal law criminalizing gun possession by anyone previously convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor, reinforces my sense...

Another marijuana ballot proposition worth watching this November

Posted on July 14, 2010
California's Proposition 19 calling for the legalization of marijuana even for recreational uses is, of course, the biggest drug war political story this November. But as detailed in this local piece from Arizona, which is headlined "Prop 203: Details on...

Tennessee Gov commutes death sentence of woman condemned for murder-for-hire

Posted on July 14, 2010
As detailed in this local press report, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen "this morning commuted the death sentence of Gaile Owens to life imprisonment." Here are more of the details: Ms. Owens was convicted by a Shelby County jury in 1986...

Wasn't pre-Booker federal sentencing an "ongoing source of discord, disunity, and criticism"?

Posted on July 13, 2010
There are so many intriguing aspects of the letter sent last month by the Justice Department's Criminal Division to the US Sentencing Commission (basics here), and I am still reflecting on DOJ's current assessment and criticism of 2010 post-Bookerrealities...

Split en banc Seventh Circuit in Skoien upholds categorical exclusion of DV misdemeanant from Second Amendment

Posted on July 13, 2010
Regular readers and Second Amendment junkies may recall the Skoien case in which a Seventh Circuit panel suggested that the Second Amendment may not permit the federal categorical prohibition on the possession of guns by persons previously convicted of a...

Ohio completes another one-drug lethal injection execution (with a slight hiccup)

Posted on July 13, 2010
As detailed in this local article, which is headlined "Killer of 5 children is executed; Garner had set fire to cover up burglary in Cincinnati," Ohio continues to find success with its one-drug lethal injection execution protocol. But, intriguingly, it...

"Beyond Guns: N.R.A. Expands Agenda"

Posted on July 13, 2010
The title of this post is the headline of this interesting article in today's New York Times concerning how the National Rifle Association is planning to continue pushing for broader gun rights in the wake of the Second Amendment rulings...

"Races could test voters' views on death penalty"

Posted on July 13, 2010
The title of this post is the headline of this article from the front-page of today's San Francisco Chronicle. Here is how it gets started: For decades, capital punishment was a driving force in California politics, swaying elections for governor...

Lindsay Lohan's latest struggle: finding a lawyer willing to take on her criminal case

Posted on July 12, 2010
This post from TalkLeft altered me to this fascinating new report from People Magazine headlined "Lawyer: Lindsay Lohan Just Doesn't Get It." Here are excerpts: A 90-day jail sentence should be a wake-up call for Lindsay Lohan but she still...

Sixth Circuit rejects effort by Ohio murderer to extend Roper to block execution

Posted on July 12, 2010
Ohio's now-standard monthly execution plans today produced this interesting little opinion from the Sixth Circuit in an order denying a stay application. The order starts this way: Petitioner William Garner, an Ohio inmate sentenced to death, moves this court to...

Swiss justice ministry formally refuses US extradition request for Roman Polanski

Posted on July 12, 2010
I happen to be off-line for most of the day, and the Swiss let an (in)famous sex offender go free. This article from The Guardian, which is headlined "Roman Polanski escapes extradition to US: Film director goes free after nine...

"Status as Punishment: A Critical Guide to Padilla v. Kentucky"

Posted on July 11, 2010
Thie title of this post is the title of this new piece by Gabriel Chin and Margaret Colgate Love now available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: There are only a handful of Supreme Court decisions in the past 50...

Pennsylvania sentencing commission urging repeal of school zone mandatory sentencing provisions

Posted on July 11, 2010
As detailed in this local article, the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing is"is recommending that legislators repeal the drug-free school zone mandatory sentences and let judges to determine the sentence based on already-existing guidelines that would include increased time...

Fascinating assessment of federal sentencing in DOJ annual letter ot Sentencing Commission

Posted on July 11, 2010
A very kind reader sent me a copy of the letter sent by the Justice Department's Criminal Division to the US Sentencing Commission commenting on the operation of the federal sentencing guidelines. This letter can be downloaded below, and here...

RAND study (foolishly?) tries to forecast impact of pot legalization in California

Posted on July 09, 2010
As detailed in this local newspaper article and this official press release, the RAND Corporation has produced this new study that examines many issues raised by proposals to legalize marijuana in California. Here are the basics: Legalizing pot may drop...

Some white-collar reasonableness review headlines

Posted on July 09, 2010
Some notable stories of notable white-collar federal sentences being appealed are making headlines these days: Feds appeal sentence of powerful ex-Pa. Sen. Fumo Nacchio to appeal new sentence

Kudos to Professor Erik Luna for being cited by Lindsay Lohan in her Twitter rant about her jail sentence

Posted on July 08, 2010
I thought that I had reached a sentencing pop-culture zenith a few years ago when, as detailed here, ESPN's Mike & Mike made fun of me on their ESPN morning radio show. But my good friend and colleague Professor Erik...

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