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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.
Big political corruption busts in New Jersey . . . thanks to a cooperator
Posted on July 23, 2009The Wall Street Journal provides this extended account, which is headlined "Dozens Arrested in New Jersey Corruption Probe," of a huge political corruption story breaking today in New Jersey. Here is how the piece starts: Federal agents swept into New...
"'Bishop' receives two-year sentence for making kids live with corpse"
Posted on July 23, 2009The title of this post is headline of this local article from Wisconsin that seems tailor made for blog debate. Here are the details: A former Necedah church leader will spend the next two years in prison for keeping a...
Another big federal fraud sentencing dealing with Madoff echoes
Posted on July 23, 2009This local story out of Virginia, which is headlined "Okun?s lawyers say life sentence not warranted," provide another example of the echo effect of Bernie Madoff's severe fraud sentence. Here are the details: Authorities want a 400-year sentence for Edward...
President Obama makes first appointment to US Sentencing Commission
Posted on July 23, 2009As this official press release from the White House, President Obama has made his first nomination to U.S. Sentencing Commission. Here are all the details from the press release: President Obama today nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to be a member...
Potent new report on life sentences from The Sentencing Project
Posted on July 22, 2009I just received this e-mail telling me about an important new report just released by The Sentencing Project: A new report released by The Sentencing Project finds a record 140,610 individuals are now serving life sentences in state and federal...
Debate heating up over recommended capital clemency in Ohio
Posted on July 22, 2009As detailed in this local article, which is headlined "Getsy juror outraged: Upset by parole board decision," there is a brewing debate in Ohio over the state parole board's recommendation of clemency for a killer scheduled to be executed in...
Should President Obama practice ageism when making judicial nominations?
Posted on July 22, 2009Thanks to How Appealing, I noticed this recent essay at The New Republic, headlined "Old World: Why isn't Obama appointing young judges to the circuit courts?". Here are snippets: Attention was understandably focused on Sonia Sotomayor this week, as her...
Economic necessity finally forcing long-needed reform in California
Posted on July 22, 2009As detailed in this Los Angeles Times article, which is headlined "Opposition to state budget deal mounts," the budget deal worked out in California to deal with a huge deficit includes huge cuts to the prison population. Here are the...
House subcomittee takes first step to eliminate crack/powder federal sentencing disparity
Posted on July 22, 2009Thanks to this post from TalkLeft and this press release from FAMM, I see that there has finally been some real, actual, tangible legislative movement on eliminating crack/powder federal sentencing disparity. Here are details from the FAMM press release: Buoyed...
Still more potent talk from AG Holder about federal sentencing reform
Posted on July 22, 2009Earlier today, Attorney General Eric Holder delivered these remarks at the National Black Prosecutors Association?s Profiles in Courage Luncheon. Here are portions of his remarks focused on how he handled the botched prosecution of former Senator Ted Stevens and also...
"State police chiefs' association backs prison plan in budget"
Posted on July 22, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this new Los Angeles Times article discussing the latest debates over the prison reform provisions in the new California budget plan. Here is how the piece starts: A day after Republican...
US Sentencing Commission's "Overview of Statutory Mandatory Minimum Sentencing"
Posted on July 21, 2009As previously noted here, the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security last week held a hearing on "Mandatory Minimums and Unintended Consequences." Now I just discovered that the US Sentencing Commission's website has posted this new lengthy...
"'Gambling Granny' sentenced to 14 months of house arrest"
Posted on July 21, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this local article out of Florida. Here are the details: A Broward County judge this morning sentenced a grandmother to 14 months of house arrest for leaving her two grandchildren unattended...
Ohio ? aka the northern Texas ? executes again
Posted on July 21, 2009As detailed in this AP article, Ohio executed another multiple murderer this morning. This was Ohio's third execution in 2009 and its twenty-third execution since 2004. With respect to the death penalty, I think it is fair and appropriate to...
Sixth Circuit amends its federal guidelines masturbation jurisprudence
Posted on July 21, 2009In this prior post from a few months ago, I noted that the Sixth Circuit had to resolve a guideline question that forced it to break new ground in federal guidelines masturbation jurisprudence. But today brings a new amended Sixth...
"A Parable of Politicized Prosecution"
Posted on July 21, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this Washington Post column by Jon Entine, who is the author of the new book, "No Crime But Prejudice: Fischer Homes, the Immigration Fiasco, and Extra-Judicial Prosecution" (which was noted in...
Top-side briefs in Graham and Sullivan, the two SCOTUS juve LWOP cases
Posted on July 21, 2009Thanks to the folks at the ABA who collect Supreme Court briefs here, we can all now read the top-side merits briefs filed late last week in the two juve LWOP cases, Graham and Sullivan, to be heard next term...
Good (and surprising) news about crime rates
Posted on July 20, 2009This new piece from the Washington Post, which is headlined "Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying," provides both good news on crime rates and a new reason to wonder if anyone can assess with any confidence what makes crime rates...
Seventh Circuit blesses considering defendant's cooperation without a 5K motion from the government
Posted on July 20, 2009Tucked in the back of a long panel opinion dealing with various sentencing issues is a notable statement about a district judge's post-Booker discretion that, I believe, formally breaks some new ground for the Seventh Circuit. Near the end of...
"Texas reporter's seen unrivaled number of U.S. executions"
Posted on July 20, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this story now being featured at CNN.com. I am not quite sure why CNN now thinks it is newsworthy to note who has been a witness to the most executions, but...
Michael Vick now a free man (subject to three years on supervised release)
Posted on July 20, 2009This AP article, headlined "Ex-NFL star Vick released from federal custody," provides this update on the legal status of football's most famous federal felon: Vick's attorney Lawrence Woodward told The Associated Press outside Vick's suburban Virginia home that the former...
Should very young sex offenders be placed on a registry?
Posted on July 20, 2009These two notable pieces from yesterday's Dallas Morning News prompts the question in the title of this post: Justice experts say sex offender registry ruins a juvenile's 2nd chance Sex-offender label on boys unravels family's lives Here is how the...
"Appellate Review of Sentencing Policy Decisions after Kimbrough"
Posted on July 19, 2009The title of this post is the title of this new piece on SSRN by Carissa Byrne Hessick. Here is the abstract: In Kimbrough v. United States the U.S. Supreme Court addressed a question left open in United States v....
"Sex-offender costs to skyrocket"
Posted on July 19, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this lengthy and effective piece in today's Des Moines Register. The piece spotlights how legislators seem willing, even in tough economic times, to "spare no expense" when it comes to regulating...
Continued buzzing about the (soft?) sentence given to Fumo
Posted on July 19, 2009Especially in Pennsylvania's papers, there continues to be plenty of discussion of the 55-month prison sentence imposed on state lawmaker Vincent Fumo for his convictions on various corruption charges. Here are two stories that caught my eye and provide notable...
Continuing the acquitted conduct debate and urging SCOTUS engagement
Posted on July 18, 2009This recent post noting Judge Bright separate opinion reiterating forcefully his view that acquitted conduct sentencing enhancements are unconstitutional has generated a dynamic debate in the comments about both the law and policy of a judicial decision to increase a...
One more take on Sotomayer and the status of the Second Amendment
Posted on July 18, 2009Today's edition of the Wall Street Journal includes this editorial headlined "Second Amendment Confidential: Sotomayor takes the Fifth on gun rights." Here are excerpts: Now making their way to the Court are cases about whether the right to bear arms...
Comparing white-collar apples and drug dealing oranges at sentencing
Posted on July 17, 2009This local article, headlined "Lawyers question Fumo's sentence: The former state senator appears to have gotten off easy for misusing $2.4 million in taxpayers' money, defense attorneys and prosecutors say," highlights the challenges of making sentencing comparison between different types...
"Feds seek to appeal 'unreasonable' Fumo sentence"
Posted on July 17, 2009The title of this piece is the headline of this new article suggesting that the story concerning the a recent high-profile white-collar sentencing is not quite over: Federal prosecutors stung by this week's 55-month sentence for a long-powerful Pennsylvania lawmaker...
Judge Bright urges SCOTUS attention to acquitted conduct enhancement
Posted on July 17, 2009In US v. Papakee, No. 08-2032 (8th Cir. July 17, 2009) (available here), Judge Bright writes separately to a panel opinion affirming a long sentence in a sex offense case in otder to reiterate forcefully his view that acquitted conduct...
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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...
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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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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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