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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.
Rapper T.I. defends his special plea and sentencing deal
Posted on March 30, 2009Recently sentenced rapper T.I. is talking about his sentencing fate in ways that may add heat to the debate over whether he got special treatment. This MTV story has some of the choice quotes from T.I.'s first post-sentencing interview: The...
Ninth Circuit panel splits over adequacy of sentencing explanation
Posted on March 30, 2009The Ninth Circuit has a long set of opinions covering lots of sentencing ground today in US v. Carter, No. 05-50303 (9th Cir. March 30, 3009) (available here). Though all practitioners in the Ninth Circuit will want to check out...
NY Times editorial backs Senator Jim Webb's reform plans
Posted on March 30, 2009This morning the New York Times has this editorial, titled "Reviewing Criminal Justice," which praises Senator Jim Webb's crime and punishment reform bill. Here are excerpts: America?s criminal justice system needs repair. Prisons are overcrowded, sentencing policies are uneven and...
The many fascinating legal and social issues swirling around "sexting"
Posted on March 30, 2009I had a chance to read closely this federal complaint filed last week by the ACLU of Pennsylvania against a local district attorney who threatened three high school girls with child porn charges for appearing partially undressed in (provocative?) cell-phone...
Talk of a plea deal to resolve gun charges against Plaxico Burress
Posted on March 30, 2009Though press accounts are varied, this New York Times piece is reporting on a possible plea deal for football star Plaxico Burress to resolve his pending gun charges. Here are the particulars of the report: A plea deal is being...
Will AG Holder change DOJ sentencing practicies that seem inconsistent with "the rule of law, equality before the law, and the applicability of Due Process"?
Posted on March 29, 2009As detailed in this post at The BLT, Attorney General Eric Holder was officially installed in his position just this past Friday in a formal ceremony in which he gave this speech. Though many might view AG Holder's speech as...
Death penalty news and notes
Posted on March 29, 2009While I was on the road last week, I was not able to keep up with various death penalty developments. Fortunately, there are no shortage of website to which one can turn for catching up, and there are lots of...
Noting the Second Amendment dogs that did not bark in Hayes
Posted on March 29, 2009Now available via SSRN is this effective little piece of student scholarship commenting on the Supreme Court's work last month in US v. Hayes upholding a gun possession conviction for a misdemeanant. The piece is is titled "To Heller and...
Why isn't there more constitutional litigation over the "hellhole" that is extended solitary confinement?
Posted on March 29, 2009Today I finally found the time to read this terrific examination of solitary confinement appearing in the March 30 issue of The New Yorker. The piece by Atul Gawande is titled "Hellhole: The United States holds tens of thousands of...
A pretty good week in the circuits for a few federal defendants
Posted on March 29, 2009Because I was on the road most of last week, I was unable to effectively keep up with all the circuit sentencing rulings. But my quick review of the circuit week that was seems to suggest that a few federal...
Will there be retroactive sentencing justice for drug defendants in New York?
Posted on March 28, 2009This New York Times article, headlined "Deal on State?s Drug Laws Means Resentencing Pleas," suggests that the plans to reform New York's Rockefeller drug laws include provisions allowing some past sentenced defendants to obtain resentencings: An agreement reached by Gov...
Good readings on Senator Webb's courage and Prez Obama's pot shot
Posted on March 28, 2009This week brought some very different examples of politicians taking very different approaches to national crimes and punishment issues. And some of my favorite on-line commentaors have these good discussions of what we should take away from what we all...
Should we ban all repeat drunk drivers from ever driving again?
Posted on March 28, 2009My local paper had this story about the sentencing of another repeat drunk driver guilty of killing another innocent victim. These stories are all too common and fuel my general eagerness to get extra tough on repeat drunk drivers. But...
New York drug sentencing laws finally to get serious reform
Posted on March 27, 2009As detailed in these links, the AP and Reuters are now reporting that reform of the New York Rockefeller drug laws are a done deal: New York to ease its landmark tough drug laws NY eases drug laws, sees annual...
Rapper T.I. gets a year-and-a-day federal sentence on gun charges
Posted on March 27, 2009I have not followed closely the crime and possible punishment of Clifford Harris, aka rap star T.I. But today was his sentencing, and this early AP story provides the basics: A judge has sentenced Rapper T.I. to one year and...
Would "spreading the wealth" help reduce crime and punishment rates?
Posted on March 27, 2009This new little criminology paper that just showed up on SSRN, titled "Income Inequality and Crime in the United States," ought to help generate a robust debate on a friday. Here is the brief abstract of the brief paper: This...
US Sentencing Commission to conduct a data and research conference in May
Posted on March 27, 2009I just noticed on the US Sentencing Commission's website this very exciting news: "The United States Sentencing Commission will present a data and research conference in Washington, D.C. on May 5-7, 2009." This link provides these additional details: This conference...
Catching up with all the sentencing news and notes
Posted on March 27, 2009I have been on the road the last few days and unable to keep up with all of the diverse and dynamic sentencing happenings this week. Fortunately, through links to posts at How Appealing and TalkLeft, we all can catch...
Brits having familiar debate over sentencing guidelines and judicial discretion
Posted on March 26, 2009As detailed in this BBC News article, which carries the headline "Judges group attack sentence plan," there is a new debate over an old sentencing issue across the pond. Here is how the article starts: The body which represents 652...
"A Structural Vision of Habeas Corpus"
Posted on March 26, 2009The title of this post is the title of this interesting new article by Eve Brensike Primus available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: For decades, scholars and judges have assumed that federal habeas corpus review of state court criminal...
Senator Jim Webb takes his concerns about prison nation to the next level
Posted on March 26, 2009Senator Jim Webb, who long ago won my heart by showing a serious concern for the problems of crime and punishment in the United States, has now taken his work on these issues to the next level. Specifically, as explained...
The latest numbers on executions around the world
Posted on March 25, 2009This New York Times article reports on the latest Amnesty International report on executions around the world in 2008. Here are particulars: In its annual report on the death penalty, Amnesty International on Tuesday chronicled beheadings in Saudi Arabia; hangings...
Another (unsurprising?) SCOTUS defense loss
Posted on March 25, 2009I am road-blogging to note that the Supreme Court this morning handed down Puckett v US concerning plea breach remedies. SCOTUSblog has the details and links, and I hope to have comments tonight.
State judges in New York asking for greater drug sentencing authority
Posted on March 25, 2009This new piece from the New York Times, headlined "Letting Judges Have a Say in Sentencing," reports on an interesting front in the debates over drug sentencing law and policy in the Empire State. Here are excerpts: Justice Safer-Espinoza and...
Yet another look at the death penalty deterrence question
Posted on March 25, 2009I just saw on SSRN this paper, titled "Another Look at the Deterrent Effect of Death Penalty." Here is the abstract: There is a question whether the execution rate is appropriate to examine the deterrent effect of death penalty. Instead...
The importance of being earnest (and timely) when complaining of a breached plea
Posted on March 25, 2009With apologies to Oscar Wilde, I cannot help but think of his classic play when reviewing the Supreme Court's work today in Puckett. The fact that Puckett's case even made it to the Supreme Court was itself a comedy of...
Final FY2008 quarterly sentencing data from US Sentencing Commission
Posted on March 25, 2009Just posted on the US Sentencing Commission's website is a finalized set of federal sentencing data for fiscal year 2008. Here is how the USSC describes this latest data doc: Final FY08 Quarterly Sentencing Update (Published March 24, 2009): An...
SCOTUS unanimously reverses Ninth Circuit grant of habeas on IAC claim
Posted on March 24, 2009SCOTUSblog in this post has these very basic details on the criminal justice opinion handed down by the Supreme Court this morning: The Court has released the opinion in Knowles v. Mirzayance (07-1315). The decision below, which held for the...
Maui wowie: pot sentencing impacted by new federal policy
Posted on March 24, 2009The Los Angeles Times has this interesting article, headlined "Medical pot provider's sentencing postponed," which reports on the sentencing impact of the latest federal marijuana policy development. Here are excerpts: A federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday postponed the...
Sentencing scholar named acting Dean at Yale Law School
Posted on March 24, 2009A helpful reader made the helpful suggestion that sentencing fans might be interested in this news from New Haven (as reported in this Yale press release): President Richard C. Levin has named Kate Stith, Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law,...
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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
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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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