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Noting the impact of probation officers in the federal sentencing process

By Douglas A. Berman

A rarely discussed but important issue of federal sentencing practice is examined in this Roanoke Times piece, which is headlined "Federal sentences are not clear-cut Quite often, a judge will weigh heavily what a probation officer suggests in a pre-sentence report." Here are excerpts: The mistakenly mailed court document offered a rare glimpse into the murky world of federal sentencing. And veteran Roanoke defense lawyer Randy Cargill didn't like what he saw. Cargill, a federal public defender, was perturbed by a rarely discussed U.S. court rule that critics say conflicts with the presumption of judicial openness. In the Western District of Virginia, as in many other U.S. court districts, a probation officer makes a secret sentencing recommendation to the judge...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on October 24, 2010 (boomark / email).