Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Sentencing Law and Policy

Criminal Law

: Sentencing Law and Policy

Another high-profile request for leniency based on offender characteristics

By Douglas A. Berman

It has long been the practice at sentencing that prosecutors stress the awfulness of the offense and defense attorneys stress the not-so-awfulness of the offender.  But after Booker, this dichotomy in sentencing perspective is so evident in so many high-profile cases involving prominent defendants without a criminal past.  And as detailed in this Newark Star-Ledger article, this dichotomy is front and center again in the run up to the sentencing of former Mayor Sharpe James:Citing his age, family and contributions to the city, attorneys for former Newark Mayor Sharpe James are asking a federal judge for leniency if and when he sentences James on corruption charges later this month. According to prosecutors, federal sentencing guidelines suggest James deserves 10 to 15 years in prison for defrauding the city by arranging lucrative sales of city land to his former mistress...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 19, 2008 (boomark / email).