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Notable comments about federal sentencing trends from Senator Charles Grassley

By Douglas A. Berman

A helpful reader pointed out to me that US Senator Charles Grassley had these notable comments about federal sentencing law and practice at the end of this lengthy statement prepared for today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on fraud prosecutions: Finally, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to note that regardless of the substantive laws we pass, the investigative and law enforcement resources appropriated, and the prosecutions brought so far, criminal fraud will not be adequately deterred unless we revisit the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Booker.  In that case, the Supreme Court held that mandatory Sentencing Guidelines violated the Sixth Amendment.  Now that the Guidelines have been held to be merely advisory, the disparity and unfairness in judicially imposed sentences that we sought to eliminate on a bipartisan basis are returning, especially in two areas: child pornography and fraud cases of the type we are discussing today...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on January 26, 2011 (boomark / email).