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ABA "Second Look" Roundtable examining back-end sentencing mechanisms and reforms

By Douglas A. Berman

I had the honor and privilege last Monday to take part in an amazing event put together by the ABA, which focused on back-end sentencing issues. Here is an effective summary of the event provided by its chief organizer, Margaret Colgate Love: On December 8, 2008, the ABA Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions sponsored an all-day Roundtable on back-end mechanisms for sentence modification in the federal system, through clemency and statutory "second look" mechanisms short of parole. The wide-ranging discussion raised basic questions about the validity of determinate sentencing theory, particularly when prison sentences are lengthy, and discussed the on-going revision of the Model Penal Code's Sentencing Articles. The Roundtable was moderated by John Jay College President Jeremy Travis, and Justice Anthony Kennedy participated in its afternoon session...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 14, 2008 (boomark / email).