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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.
Registration fever: it starts with sex, then meth, then guns, then ...?
Posted on April 09, 2008As regular readers know, though registration requirements are now universal and federally required for sex offenders, some local jurisdictions are using or thinking about requiring other kinds of offenders to register their whereabouts. As detailed in posts here and here,...
Louisiana getting even crazier about sex offender sanctions
Posted on April 08, 2008As detailed in this AP article, the folks in the bayou region cannot get enough of getting tough with sex offenders: Masking at Halloween or Mardi Gras could become a forbidden tradition in Louisiana for people convicted of sex offenses...
Should the NAACP and others really be concerned about the sentencing of the Barbie bandits?
Posted on April 08, 2008A new sentencing story out of Atlanta, covered today by the AP and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, seems very likely to become a topic of water-cooler dialogue. Here are the basics from the AP: The head of the Georgia NAACP called...
SCOTUS Kennedy capital child rape case buzz starting
Posted on April 08, 2008Next week the Supreme Court will hear oral argument on the constitutionality of the death penalty for a child rape offense in Kennedy v. Louisiana. As evidenced by this article in USA Today, the pre-argument media buzz is starting. Here...
Hawai'i Supreme Court okays state's Blakely fix
Posted on April 07, 2008Thanks to this post at How Appealing, I saw that the Hawai'i Supreme Court, in a lengthy split ruling, approved the constitutionality of the state's recent Blakely fix legislation. This article from the Honolulu Advertiser describes the basics of the...
Local court starts examining Ohio's execution protocol
Posted on April 07, 2008This AP story provides some highlights from the first day of a state court litigation concerning Ohio's lethal injection protocol: An anesthesiologist testified Monday that Ohio's lethal injection procedure isn't appropriate for dogs or cats, let alone humans...
Thoughtful thoughts on Judge Weinstein's work in Polizzi
Posted on April 07, 2008Over at Volokh, Orin Kerr has this extended discussion of Judge Weinstein's very extended Polizzi opinion (basics here and here), which reverses a conviction in a child porn case on debatable legal grounds. Here is the start of Orin's analysis:...
The Second Amendment and speculating about post-Heller politics
Posted on April 06, 2008The folks at Politico have this interesting new piece, headlined "Obama aims for pro-gun vote." The piece indirectly reinforces my view that the Supreme Court's Heller case could significantly change the politics of gun law debates. Here are snippets from...
NYT Magazine notices web-based prison culture (and economics) version 2.0
Posted on April 06, 2008Today's New York Times Magazine has this interesting piece, headlined "Soft Cell," that notices how a website has created a community for the family and friends of incarcerated persons. Here are snippets from the piece: Prison Talk, a big board...
More great local coverage of crack retroactivity realities
Posted on April 06, 2008Local newspapers continue to provide interesting and valuable coverage of the local realities of implementing the new federal sentencing guidelines for crack offenses. Here are links to notable new stories from Arizona and Florida and South Carolina: From the Arizona...
Georgia legislature passes revised sex offender residency restrictions
Posted on April 06, 2008As detailed in posts here and here, last year the Georgia Supreme Court struck down part of the state's sex offender residency restriction on a takings theory. Now, as detailed in local stories here and here, the state legislature has...
New study confirms we do not treat murderers like dogs
Posted on April 06, 2008As this AP story details, examination of lethal injection protocols is not awaiting a Supreme Court ruling in Baze. Here is the latest news based on the latest research: Nearly all lethal injection executions have occurred in states where veterinarians...
Examining Florida's tough sentencing laws
Posted on April 06, 2008Today's Daytona Beach News-Journal has this pair of interesting pieces exploring Florida's tough sentencing laws: Rigid penalties, high costs, but are we safer? Sharp contrast over lock 'em up efficacy Here is an excerpt from the first of these pieces:...
A web pitch for a Webb VP pick
Posted on April 05, 2008The folks at Politico have this new piece about possible VP picks for the Democratic nominee, and I cannot help but add my two cents: I strongly favor Senator Jim Webb as the VP choice for the Dems. Let me...
Judge Weinstein's magnum opus on jury rights
Posted on April 05, 2008As noted in this recent post, famed EDNY Judge Jack Weinstein this week found a creative, questionable and headline-making way to avoid the application of a mandatory minimum federal sentence in a child porn case. Judge Weinstein's full opinion in...
"Keep Track of Crack Facts"
Posted on April 05, 2008The title of this post it the title of this terrific web memo published by The Heritage Foundation. Here is the start of a must-read: Earlier this year, Attorney General Michael Mukasey predicted that if Congress allowed new guidelines granting...
Fourth Circuit demands consideration of acquitted conduct (in an unpublished order)
Posted on April 01, 2008Though I wish the ruling was just an April Fool's joke, I fear the a Fourth Circuit opinion today in US v. Ibanga, No. 06-4738 (4th Cir. Apr. 1, 2008) (available here), is all too real. In Ibanga, the Fourth...
Virginia Gov announces (quasi-)moratorium on executions until Baze
Posted on April 01, 2008Because the Supreme Court has already created a de facto moratoirum on executions nationwide (which has now gone on more than six months), I am not sure this new moratorium story from Virginia is really big news. Nevertheless, the details...
New JPI report on the impact of jails on local communities
Posted on April 01, 2008The Justice Policy Institute released today this report, titled "Jailing Communities: The Impact of Jail Expansion and Effective Public Safety Strategies," that looks at the realities of local jails and the negative impact that jail expansion has on counties and...
LA Times coverage of SCOTUS acquitted conduct dodge
Posted on April 01, 2008I noted in this post that Supreme Court yesterday denied cert in the Hurn acquitted conduct case and in a few other acquitted conduct cases. Providing a useful follow-up, SCOTUS reporter David Savage has this new piece in the Los...
You make the call: what is a just and effective sentence for Sister Barbara Markey?
Posted on April 01, 2008Since most judges likely have no experience sentencing nuns, I hope readers will use the comments to help out the Nebraska judge who will soon have to sentence Sister Barbara Markey. Here is the AP story providing the background: A...
FAMM suggests sentencing questions for the candidates
Posted on April 01, 2008I just noticed that Families Against Mandatory Minimums has this new newsletter focused on the ways in which the "next president of the United States will have the power to influence sentencing policy for the next four to eight years."...
Around the blogosphere
Posted on April 01, 2008Lots of interesting new posts covering some sentencing-related issues can be found at: Crime and Consequences Grits for Breakfast Pardon Power Sex Crimes White Collar Crime Prof
Thoughtful analysis of Gall
Posted on March 31, 2008The Daily Report legal newspaper has this effective piece on Gall by Steven Sadow headlined "Gall offers options at trial: Fewer defendants will plead, as judges can depart from guidelines more often." Here is an excerpt: Sentencing has finally moved...
James Wilson questions whether society gets as much from universities as it does from prisons
Posted on March 31, 2008Thanks to this great post at Grits, I saw this notable op-ed in the Los Angeles Times by James Q. Wilson, headlined "Do the time, lower the crime." Scott does a great job in his post highlighting "a few of...
Native Americans and the criminal justice system
Posted on March 31, 2008This new webpage at DPIC, which is titled "Native Americans and the Death Penalty," includes these interesting (and depressing) statistics about some broader criminal justice realities: The American native crime victimization rate is twice that of non-Indians...
Is that a sex offender GPS device on your pants or are you just glad to see me?
Posted on March 31, 2008Pardon the randy post title, but I could not resist a bit of levity when reporting an interesting aspect of today's Sixth Circuit denial of en banc rehearing in Doe v. Bredesen. As detailed here, a Sixth Circuit panel last...
No big opinions, but some notable news from today's SCOTUS order list
Posted on March 31, 2008As detailed over at SCOTUSblog, the Supreme Court Justices kicked off their two-week spring break with the release of one uneventful opinion. Still no ruling in the Baze lethal injection case, even though the SCOTUS-produced execution moratorium has now extended...
Ninth Circuit continues to expound on federal sentencing circa 2008
Posted on March 31, 2008As noted in this post, the Ninth Circuit last Monday finally issued its en banc rulings in Carty and Zavala to expound upon its view of post-Booker federal sentencing law and practice. To close the week, the Ninth Circuit applied...
Florida showcases felon franchise challenges
Posted on March 31, 2008Writing in today's Wall Street Journal, Gary Fields has this strong piece headlined "Felons' Voting Requests Pile Up: Florida's Process To Restore Suffrage Illustrates Haze." Here are excerpts: Republican Gov. Charlie Crist went against his party a year ago and...
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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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