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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.
Execution plans gearing up in various states
Posted on May 19, 2008Though I am still not expecting a major rush of post-Baze executions, the news today from various states suggests that a number of death chambers are going to be a bit more active in the near future: From Florida via...
If you want to feel good about the Williams ruling...
Posted on May 19, 2008check out this stunning article by Jamie Satterfield writing in the Knoxville News about efforts to combat child porn producers. The article is titled, "Local, national and global efforts track sex offenders who prey on children," and it highlights how...
Does Williams provide a tea leaf for Kennedy?
Posted on May 19, 2008As detailed in this post at SCOTUSblog, the Supreme Court today upheld against a congressional child porn criminal provision against a First Amendment challenge: [T]he Court ? after years of repeatedly nullifying Congress? efforts to stamp out child pornography on...
On a busy criminal justice day, SCOTUS applies ACCA broadly in Rodriquez
Posted on May 19, 2008Continuing its somewhat puzzling approach (and voting paterns) in ACCA cases, the Supreme Court today in United States v. Rodriquez, No. 06-1646 (available here) held that state recidivism enhancements can help trigger ACCA's long sentencing provisions...
Is the NRA really ready for post-Heller litigation?
Posted on May 19, 2008Writing here over at Pajamas Media, Glenn Harlan Reynolds has these interesting reflections on the recent NRA national convention: I traveled to Louisville, Kentucky last week, for the National Rifle Association?s annual convention.... People seemed much happier, and more optimistic...
Troublesome disparity in state sentence for same crimes
Posted on May 18, 2008This local story from Indiana, headlined "Parents cry foul about sentences: White co-defendant gets no prison time, biracial one gets 8 years," reports on a worrisome example of sentencing disparity. Here are the basics: A wide gap in the punishments...
A new must-see in DC
Posted on May 18, 2008This article in the Los Angeles Times reports on a new museum about to open on the other coast: America's fascination with crime will take a new turn Friday -- opening day for the National Museum of Crime and Punishment.......
Will an extreme sentence deter extreme spitting?
Posted on May 18, 2008How Appealing noted this notable article from the Dallas Morning News, headlined "35-year sentence for HIV-positive spitter worries some." Here is how it starts: Prosecutors convinced a Dallas County jury this week that HIV-positive saliva should be considered a deadly...
Developing AG and USSC short lists
Posted on May 17, 2008Last weekend I encouraged, through this post, "Developing a SCOTUS short list of district court judges." And all the comments were great (and I hope they will keep coming). Inspired by this new Legal Times article, headlined "What the Presidential...
Latest FSR issue focused on white-collar sentencing
Posted on May 16, 2008I am pleased to report that, just in time for the start of the summer sentencing season, the latest issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter focused on white-collar cases is now in print and also available here on-line. The issue...
Split Canadian high court issues major ruling on trying minors
Posted on May 16, 2008As detailed in news reports here and here, "Canadian courts must treat juvenile killers more leniently than adults unless the government can show compelling reasons to give them adult sentences, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Friday." Here's more...
Ninth Circuit makes clear what it does not hold concerning cross-examination rights
Posted on May 16, 2008The Ninth Circuit has an interesting decision today in US v. Perez, No. No. 07-10289 (9th Cir. May 16, 2008) (available here), concerning a defendant's "right to cross-examine the laboratory technician who tested a urine sample." Realizing that the case...
Intriguing new paper on plea bargaining
Posted on May 16, 2008I just noticed on SSRN this interesting looking new paper titled "Calling Your Bluff: How Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys Adapt Plea Bargaining Strategies to Increased Formalization." Here is the abstract: This ethnographic work examines the inner workings of a highly...
Another federal effort to sentence for an uncharged murder
Posted on May 16, 2008This new Baltimore Sun article spotlights another case in which federal prosecutors are looking to use the guidelines relevant conduct rules to obtain a higher federal sentence based on a murder charge that was never formally brought against the defendant:...
Yet another federal sentence prompting Second Amendment questions
Posted on May 15, 2008I continue to see new Second Amendment questions in federal cases in light of Justice Kennedy's suggestion during the Heller oral argument that the Second Amendment may protect the right of homeowners to have a gun in their house for...
A month after Baze, has anything really changed?
Posted on May 15, 2008Two articles this morning about on-going lethal injection litigation confirm my sense that the Supreme Court's Baze decision has done remarkably little to alter the legal fights over execution protocols or broader debates over the death penalty. This article from...
A notable new clinic at the University of Chicago Law School
Posted on May 15, 2008As detailed in this announcement and as explained more fully on this official webpage, the University of Chicago Law School has a just created a terrific new legal clinic: The Mandel Legal Aid Clinic is proud to announce the creation...
New piece on federal prosecutorial discretion
Posted on May 15, 2008One of many reasons I do not get too concerned about the exercise of broad federal judicial sentencing discretion is because I have long believed (or perhaps I should say long feared) that federal prosecutorial discretion is always much greater...
Two notable (and very different) departures for top lawyers
Posted on May 14, 2008This afternoon brings these two notable (and very different) lawyer departure stories: Paul Clement To Step Down as Solicitor General Marc Dann resigns as [Ohio's] attorney general Though both stories are big news for a host of reasons, I think...
Exactly when and how will SCOTUS confront sex offender residency restrictions?
Posted on May 14, 2008It is clear based on lots of lower court litigation that the constitutionality of sex offender residency restrictions will come before the US Supreme Court sooner or later. It is thus interesting to speculate exactly when and how these issues...
Tenth Circuit finds reasonable giving the guidelines "considerable weight"
Posted on May 14, 2008Providing an account of what the Supreme Court's Booker progeny means for district courts, the Tenth Circuit yesterday in US v. Zamora-Solorzano, No. 07-3205 (10th Cir. May 13, 2008) (available here) affirms a within-guideline sentence after the district court indicated...
Sentencing of Army reservist for gun crime causing a stir
Posted on May 14, 2008As regular readers know, the Heller case and related Second Amendment issues has me keeping a close eye on gun crime sentencing cases of note. This new article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, headlined "Automatic gun transfer nets prison sentence,"...
Intriguing little SORNA sentence reversal from the Fifth Circuit
Posted on May 13, 2008In US v. Sanchez, No. 07-30578 (5th Cir. May 13, 2008) (available here), the Fifth Circuit says a lot of really interesting things in a really notable setting in a really short opinion. Here are the starting and closing part...
Interesting report of back-room capital clemency dealings with Canada
Posted on May 13, 2008A helpful reader pointed me to this very interesting press story involving the death penalty and our neighbors to the north. Here are a few snippets: Montana's governor told a top Canadian consular official last year that he was willing...
New(?) Eleventh Circuit ruling affirms two above-guideline sentences
Posted on May 13, 2008As now reported by the local press and in the blogosphere, the Eleventh Circuit in US v. Williams, No. 07-12526 (11th Cir. Mar. 20, 2008) (available here), has "upheld the conviction and eight-year prison sentence of a former Coca-Cola Co....
A potent SCOTUS tag-team on the rule of lenity
Posted on May 13, 2008This post at SCOTUSblog reporting on the filing of two new amicus briefs in support of cert in a rule of lenity case had me recalling some famed pro-wrestling tag teams. Here are the details: "[T]wo cert.-stage amicus briefs were...
Some more crazy sentencing stories
Posted on May 13, 2008In addition to the angry coach case, here are some more local sentencing stories that have to be read to be believed: From the AP here, "Man jailed when daughter fails to get diploma" From the Detroit News here, "Jurist...
More than six years in federal prison for (not quite) bearing arms
Posted on May 13, 2008Here is an interesting sentencing case for those who claim to be strong supporters of gun rights, as reported in this Baltimore Sun article: Aaron McCown, a youth football coach embraced by his team despite a criminal past, was sentenced...
Georgia spending more than a billion dollars on its prisons
Posted on May 13, 2008As detailed in this interesting local article, the state of Georgia is continuing to spend more than a billion taxpayer dollars on its prison system every year. Here are the particulars: The $21 billion budget currently awaiting Gov. Sonny Perdue's...
SCOTUS does a little spring crim law cleaning
Posted on May 12, 2008As detailed over at SCOTUSblog, the Supreme Court was back in action today issuing one little opinion about jury selection procedures and an order list that included one cert grant in a capital habeas case and some Gall GVRs. This...
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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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