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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.
Judge Bright makes pitch for sentencing councils to deal with post-Booker disparities
Posted on July 08, 2010A number of helpful readers have alerted me to the intriguing little concurrence penned by Judge Bright in US v. Ayala, No. 09-2123 (8th Cir. July 8, 2010) (available here). Here are snippets from an interesting read: Sentencing discretion should...
"McDonald Signals The End Of Oregon?s Non-Unanimous Jury Rule"
Posted on July 08, 2010The title of this post is the headline from this entry by Steve Sady at the Ninth Circuit Blog. This post thoroughly and effectively walks through why and how the full incorporation holding in the McDonald Second Amendment case could...
Phony lawyer Howard Kieffer facing an upward departure in his federal sentencing
Posted on July 08, 2010Persons who follow the federal sentencing system have long known the name Howard Kieffer, and this local story suggests he may now break new legal ground in the role of convicted defendant instead of in his previous (fraudulent) role as...
Pleas deals by Roosskie agents leading to spy swap
Posted on July 08, 2010The "sentencing" news from New York City in this high-profile russian agents case has me fondly recalling some of the classic quotes from my all-time favorite movie, especially Major Kong's expression of excitement about going "toe to toe with the...
Thanks, (slow) readers, for helping to make this blog among the very "stickiest"!
Posted on July 08, 2010To understand what the post title means, check out this post and the law prof blog rankings from Paul Caron at TaxProf Blog. And I am really grateful for all my readers (whether they read slow or fast), and also...
Lindsay Lohan provides yet another opportunity to debate the (un)real aspects of celebrity sentencing justice
Posted on July 07, 2010As detailed in this piece from the always hard-hitting US Magazine, which is headlined "Lindsay Lohan Likely Won't Serve 90 Days," a former child star and current celebrity train wreck is putting another spotlight on how wayward celebrities get treated...
Second Amendment lawsuit already filed against new Chicago gun regulations
Posted on July 07, 2010As detailed in this brief report, a lawsuit has already been brought challenging the new gun regulations that were adopted in Chicago last week. Here are the basics: As trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange who owns a farm is...
"Can Genes And Brain Abnormalities Create Killers?"
Posted on July 07, 2010The question in the title of this post is the headline of this NPR feature on Talk of the Nation which reviews some of the latest research and debate over brain science and criminal justice. Here is how the lengthy...
Eighth Circuit quickly rejects effort to extend Graham to juve priors
Posted on July 07, 2010In US v. Scott, No. 09-2577 (8th Cir. July 6, 2010) (available here), an Eighth Circuit panel makes quick work of a defendant's claim that his life sentence for drug offenses violated the Eighth Amendment rights because the sentence was...
"Black 'entitled? to immediate bail, court filing says"
Posted on July 07, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this article from a Canadian paper which provides the latest legal development following Conrad Black's victory in the Supreme Court in the apeeal of his fraud convictions. Here are the details:...
Considering alternative sentencing infrastructure in Colorado county
Posted on July 06, 2010This interesting local article from Colorado, which is headlined "Commissioners look at alternative sentence building: Facility could ease jail pressures," provides an encouraging report showing that some communities are investing in more facilities providing alternatives to prison rather than just...
Issue spotting the legal questions in the Troy Davis case
Posted on July 06, 2010This new AP article, which is headlined "Troy Davis case full of murky legal questions," provides a basic overview of challenging issues that a high-profile capital case continues to generate. Here is a snippet: Thanks to an order from the...
Another timely NASC conference this August in Alabama
Posted on July 06, 2010I am pleased to highlight on this blog the National Association of Sentencing Commissions annual conference, which this year is being held in Point Clear, Alabama on August 8-10, 2010. This year's conference is titled "Sound Sentencing Policy: Balancing Justice...
"Therapeutic Jurisprudence and its Application to Criminal Justice Research and Development"
Posted on July 05, 2010The title of this post is the title of this new piece from Professor David Wexler now available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: This essay, based on the 3rd Annual Martin Tansey Memorial Lecture, delivered May 26, 2010, at...
Is the increase in SCOTUS summary dispositions a positive development?
Posted on July 05, 2010This piece from Tony Mauro via law.com, which is headlined "Summary rulings spike at the high court," reviews the affinity of the Roberts' Court for summary decisions. Here are excerpts: The Court seems to be putting more and more energy...
Celebrating our declaration of rights to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"
Posted on July 04, 2010In addition to enjoying a beautiful day, I plan this afternoon to read aloud to my kids the full text of the Declaration of Independence. And in this space, I encourage readers to comment on what this starting section of...
"How The Recession Hurts Private Prisons"
Posted on July 03, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this Newsweek feature. Here is how the interesting piece gets started: Baldwin, Mich., (population 1,107), will soon have more prison beds than full-time residents. On the outskirts of town, one of...
Public defenders in Kentucky challenging prosecutorial discretion in capital cases
Posted on July 03, 2010As detailed in this local article, which is headlined "Kenton County case to be used as Ky. death penalty test," state public defenders in Kentucky are making a broad challenge to the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in death penalty cases....
Should local Wisconsin DA be lauded or lambasted for his broad reading of Heller and McDonald?
Posted on July 03, 2010Thanks to this post by Eugene Volokh, I see that at least one law enforcement official thinks that Heller and McDonald should be interpretted quite broadly. Here are snippets from this press release issued last week issued by the DA...
Seeking SCOTUS reflections for guest posts over holiday weekend
Posted on July 02, 2010I am heading on the road this morning and will be away from my usual blog locales for an extended holiday period. Blogging will continue, but will likely be relatively light over the next week or so. During this period,...
Chicago's gun control response to the McDonald ruling
Posted on July 01, 2010This AP story, which is headlined "Mayor Daley lays out strict gun rules for Chicago," provides the new sure-to-be-challenged gun regulations that Chicago has in the works now that the Supreme Court has made clear that it has to comply...
A first-cut criminal justice take on the SCOTUS Term that was
Posted on July 01, 2010Because the just-completed Supreme Court Term was rich with criminal justices cases that were themselves rich with dynamic issues of constitutional and statutory law, it may not be possible to provide a simple criminal justice take on the Justices' work...
Split Seventh Circuit upholds seemingly Carr-questionable SORNA conviction
Posted on July 01, 2010A number of helpful readers have alerted me to a notable split Seventh Circuit opinion today in United States v. Vasquez, 09-2411 (7th Cir. July 1, 2010) (available here), which in the words of one reader "appears on quick glance...
Georgia to seek en banc review of Eleventh Circuit panel ruling about Atkins application
Posted on July 01, 2010As detailed in this post from a few weeks ago, a Eleventh Circuit panel in Hill v. Schofield, No. 08-15444 (11th Cir. Jun. 18, 2010) (available here), declared unconstitutional Georgia's procedures for implementing the Atkins ruling prohibiting the execution of...
New report details racial disparities in pot possession charges in California
Posted on July 01, 2010As detailed in this press release, the Drug Policy Alliance (which advocates alternatives to the war on drugs) this week "released a report that documents widespread race-based disparities in the enforcement of low-level marijuana possession laws in California...
"Sex offender faces prison for going to movie, authorities say"
Posted on July 01, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this intriguing local Detroit story which highlights how GPS tracking can play a role in busting a sex offender for going to the wrong pop-culture event. Here are the details: A...
Texas about to conduct back-to-back executions
Posted on June 30, 2010As detailed in this AP article, the execution chamber in Texas is due to be busy this week: Condemned prisoner Jonathan Green faces lethal injection for the abduction, rape and strangling of a 12-year-old girl near Houston 10 years ago....
Fascinating Ninth Circuit ruling on whether prisoners have medical privacy rights
Posted on June 30, 2010The Ninth Circuit issued an interesting ruling today concerning the medical privacy rights of a prisoner in Seaton v. Mayberg, No. 05-56894 (9th Cir. June 30, 2010) (available here). Here is how the main panel opinion starts and ends: We...
Former NC lottery commissioner first(?) to get released based on Skilling honest service ruling
Posted on June 30, 2010A helpful reader sent me an order entered yesterday in Geddings v. US (available for download below), in which a district court has ordered the release of a former North Carolina lottery commissioner based on the new narrowed interpretation of...
Split Second Circuit panel reverses death sentence for NYC double cop killer
Posted on June 30, 2010As detailed in this New York Times report, which is headlined "Death Sentence Is Voided for Killer of 2 N.Y.P.D. Officers," the Second Circuit today has reversed a high-profile federal death sentence. Here are the basics: A panel of federal...
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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?
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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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