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A busy week that was at SCOTUS for sentencing fans

By Douglas A. Berman

The biggest story for criminal justice fans coming from the Supreme Court this week was surely its ruling in Padilla concerning the application of the Sixth Amendment to how an attorney advises a defendant prior to a plea (details here and here).  But the Justices also heard argument on consequential sentencing issues in Dillon and Barber and on some other complicated criminal justice issues with various sentencing implications (see list here).  Anyone looking for comprehensive coverage of all these happenings should head over to SCOTUSblog, but here I can link my recent coverage of the Justices' doings during the dynamic week that was.  Many of these posts have long, thoughtful comments by readers that especially merit careful reading: Padilla prevails in his ineffectiveness claim concerning plea advice Is the Padilla ruling as profound as it seems? Sentencing day at the US Supreme Court "Justice Kennedy prods Obama to commute sentences" Telling(?) distractions during Dillon SCOTUS oral argument "Supreme Court justices have a good time debating 'good time'" I will have more to say specifically about the Padilla ruling in a subsequent post, though readers are welcome to continue the commentary on this major Sixth Amendment decision...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on April 04, 2010 (boomark / email).