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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.
When will President Obama start acting like President Lincoln when it comes to the clemency power?
Posted on January 26, 2009This CNN reporthighlights that President Obama is already moving fast during his second work week, having already "signed a memorandum Monday requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider an application by California to set more stringent auto emissions and fuel...
Nelson's key language and the SCOTUS spirit: guidelines are really, truly advisory
Posted on January 26, 2009For the second week in a row, the Supreme Court has issued a little per curiam opinion to make sure, yet again, that lower courts really, truly understand that the Booker remedy means that the guidelines really, truly are advisory....
Lots more notable criminal justice action from the Supreme Court, including another summary reversal
Posted on January 26, 2009The Supreme Court issued a whole bunch of opinions and granted cert on three new cases today, and there is lots of criminal action in this flurry of activity. To get effective summaries and links of all the action, readers...
Another local article showing relative ease of implementing crack reductions
Posted on January 26, 2009This effective local article, headlined "Q-C crack cocaine sentences reduced," provides yet another example of how effectively and efficiently lower courts have been implementing the reduced crack sentences that the Sentencing Commission made retroactive...
"Racial Disproportionality in the American Prison Population"
Posted on January 25, 2009The title of this post is the start of the title of this article from the Fall 2008 issue of the Justice Policy Journal. Especially after a week in which many are eager to assert we have entered a new...
Should the GITMO prisoners go to Alcatraz?
Posted on January 25, 2009Not surprisingly, the President's order to close GITMO has everyone talking about where the prisoners now held there will be sent. This Denver Post article, for example, reports on buzz already surrounding the the possibility that the GITMO detainees might...
Details of the prison economy problems from the Granite State
Posted on January 25, 2009Local papers this Sunday are filled with local prison economy stories. In addition to these pieces from West Virginia, today also brings from the Concord Monitor this article, headlined "In crisis, changes for prisons: Budget challenge may reshape corrections...
Potent scholarship about reasonableness review and sentence explanations
Posted on January 25, 2009The University of Chicago Law Review has published this new comment, titled "Determining 'Reasonableness' without a Reason?: Federal Appellate Review Post?Rita v United States." As detailed in these passages from the introduction, the piece provides a potent and wise account...
Reporting from West Virginia about prison economy realities
Posted on January 25, 2009Two articles today from the Times West Virginian provide another effective local perspective on my favorite real-politick mantra, "It's the prison economy, stupid." The lead article, headlined "Running out of room: Drug courts one option in reducing prison overcrowding," starts...
Revised article keeping up with all the SORNA litigation
Posted on January 24, 2009Corey Yung notes here that he has a new draft available here via SSRN of his article, "One of These Laws is Not Like the Others: Why the Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act Raises New Constitutional Questions." This...
Effective review of Spears ruling
Posted on January 23, 2009Though it has been an historic week, I am pleased to be able today to remind sentencing fans of perhaps the most surprising event in the last few days: the summary reversal victory by a federal sentencing defendant in Spears....
Circuit Judge Troy Bolton Wilkinson urges an HSM approach to judicial appointments
Posted on January 23, 2009The entire Obama family, as detailed here and here, is obviously quite familiar with Disney Channel productions and surely knows well (perhaps even too well) all the musical stylings of Troy and Gabriella and all the East High Wildcats of...
Second Circuit uses lenity principles to interpret broadly judicial authority to grant crack reductions
Posted on January 23, 2009The Second Circuit today in US v. McGee, No. 08-1619 (2d Cir. Jan. 23, 2009) (available here), works through the particulars of whether and when a defendant may be able to get the benefit of the new crack guidelines. The...
What do "our ideals" say about mass incarceration or LWOP for juves or acquitted conduct or the death penalty or GPS tracking or....
Posted on January 23, 2009lots of other distinctive aspects of the modern American criminal justice system? I ask this question because I keep thinking about these two sections of President Obama's Inaugural Address: On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over...
Important insights concerning our intuitions about moral blameworthiness and punishment
Posted on January 23, 2009Thanks to this post by Larry Solum, I discovered this new paper on SSRN titled "Intermediation Reduces Punishment." Here is the abstract: This research experimentally identifies the belief that an action is less blameworthy when separated from the outcome by...
Can and will judges, defense attorneys and academics now get lots of sentencing data from BOP, DOJ and the USSC?
Posted on January 23, 2009I was pleased to discover at WhiteHouse.gov the text of this memorandumfrom President Obama, titled "Transparency and Open Government." Here are some snippets: My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government...
Lots of executions in the US and Iran (and other death penalty news)
Posted on January 23, 2009Barack Obama has been President for less than three full days, but already there have been three executions in the United States during his time in office. This AP article, headlined "Two convicted killers executed in Texas, Oklahoma," provides the...
A great letter urging the USSC to think big in its future work
Posted on January 22, 2009I had the great pleasure of receiving from one of my old bosses, Judge Jon O. Newman of the Second Circuit, a copy of a brief letter he sent a few months ago to USSC Chair Judge Ricardo Hinojosa. With...
When will President Obama start making judicial nominations to the lower courts?
Posted on January 22, 2009According to this official accounting, there are currently 55 federal judicial vacancies (13 in the circuits, 42 in the district cours). And, as detailed here, 18 of these vacancies constitute "judicial emergencies." With lots else to do during his first...
Split First Circuit opinion addressing broad sex offender supervised release conditions
Posted on January 22, 2009An opinion released yesterday by the First Circuit, US v. Perazza-Mercado, No. 07-1511 (1st Cir. Jan. 21, 2009) (available here), covers the (now often litigated) issues surrounding broad conditions of supervised release placed on a federal sex offender...
US Sentencing Commission publishes proposed guidelines amendments
Posted on January 22, 2009I just noticed on the US Sentencing Commission's website that there is now this link providing access to the 112-page(!) official notice of the USSC's proposed guideline amendments for this coming amendment cycle. As highlighted by this official summary, readers...
New proposals from CSG's Justice Center for how Michigan can cut correction costs
Posted on January 22, 2009As some readers may know, The Council of State Governments has a Justice Center project called "Justice Reinvestment" (website here), which produces for states a set of reports and analyses of the fiscal and public safety impact of criminal justice...
Seventh Circuit covers a lot of 3582(c) crack sentencing reduction issues
Posted on January 22, 2009A new per curiam opinion today from the Seventh Circuit, US v. Foreman, No. 08-2177 (7th Cir. Jan. 22, 2009) (available here), goes over a lot of law concerning efforts by defendants to get the benefit of the new crack...
Commentary on how celebrity status effects clemency commitments
Posted on January 22, 2009I am pleased to see this notable new commentary about Orrin Hatch's celemency commitments by Rebecca Walsh in today's Salt Lake Tribune. Here are highlights: After reading People and Us magazine, I know that I'd serve more time for a...
First execution of the Obama era carried out in Texas
Posted on January 22, 2009There has been intriguingly little discussion of the death penalty at the national level in recent months(perhaps because, as suggested here and here, the Bush Administration may have been secretly supporting a moratorium on federal executions). But, of course, the...
An insider's reaction to the SCOTUS summary reversal in Spears
Posted on January 21, 2009I asked Professor Mark Osler, who was counsel of record for the defendant who secured a surprise summary reversal win from the Supreme Court today in Spears, to write up his immediate reaction to the decision for posting. Here was...
"Compassionate Conservatism, My Ass"
Posted on January 21, 2009The title of this post is the title of this impassioned critiqueby Jacob Sullum of former President George W. Bush's pitiful record on clemency grants in the wake of his decision earlier this week to make the Border Agents the...
Racist(!?!?!) remarks by state sentencing judge leads to reversal
Posted on January 21, 2009We all know thanks to Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby that kids say the darndest things. But today brings a new state appellate case from Wisconsin that reminds us that some sentencing judges also say the darndest things, and those...
Will a commitment to "transparency and the rule of law" extend to DOJ in the new administration?
Posted on January 21, 2009This report from CNN about commitments and comments made by President Obama has me very excited about possible reforms of the federal criminal justice system. Here is the start of the article that has me to excited: Promising "a new...
Republicans force delay of confirmation of Eric Holder to be Attorney General
Posted on January 21, 2009CNN has this new report on the political wrangling that surrounds the now-delayed confirmation of Eric Holder as the next Attorney General: The initial confirmation vote for Eric Holder, President Barack Obama's pick for attorney general, was postponed for a...
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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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