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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.
Potent response to DOJ account of federal child porn sentencing
Posted on July 17, 2009I noted last week in this post that the Department of Justice had produced this extended response to this ABA Journal articleon the debate over federal child porn sentencing. One target of the DOJ response was Federal Public Defender Troy...
Another significant downward variance in federal child porn sentencing
Posted on July 17, 2009This local story from DC, headlined "Former NPR editor gets no prison time in child porn case," reports on yet another notable federal child porn sentencing oucome. Here are the basics: The former NPR science editor who pleaded guilty to...
Ohio board recommends clemency in capital case based on co-defendant disparity
Posted on July 17, 2009In the federal sentencing system, defendants often point to lesser sentences given to co-defendants in order to argue for lower sentences themselves. As detailed in this local state capital sentencing story, the concept of co-defendant disparity this week prompted the...
Long sentence (including big upward variance) for failure to register
Posted on July 16, 2009This local story from New York, which is headlined "Sex offender gets 5½ years for failing to register," reports on the longest federal sentence I have seen for the relatively new crime of failing to register. As the story details,...
A couple new federal sentences making Madoff's sentence seem short
Posted on July 16, 2009There was a lot of talk after Bernie Madoff was given a sentence of 150 years in prison about whether this huge number was silly and pernicious because there was no way Madoff could live long enough to serve even...
Is it already time to start assembling another SCOTUS short list?
Posted on July 16, 2009This new New York Times article, perhaps reflecting the boring realities of the on-going confirmation hearings for Judge Sotomayor, is already looking ahead to the next SCOTUS nomination battle: "As the two parties skirmish over the Supreme Court nomination of...
It's a bird! It's a plane! ... No it's Sotomayor!!!
Posted on July 16, 2009The title of this post is inspired by the headline of this new commentary at CNN, "Sotomayor the crime fighter." The commentary is by Anthony S. Barkow, the executive director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at...
"Sins and Admission: Getting Into the Top Prisons"
Posted on July 16, 2009The title of this posts is the headline of this intriguing little article from today's Wall Street Journal. Here is how it starts: The federal judge overseeing the trial of Bernard Madoff said he would recommend the man who pulled...
"Should Parents Who Offend Receive Sentencing Discounts?"
Posted on July 15, 2009The title of this post is the question posed at the start of this guest post at the NY Times' Freakonomic blog. Here is the introduction to the guest post (links and all), and the start of its substance: We...
Creative sentencing term for blogger who leaked GNR creativity
Posted on July 15, 2009This Wired story, headlined "Guns N? Roses Uploader Gets House Arrest, Will Make Anti-Piracy Ad," notes the creative sentencing term imposed in a case about who gets access to creativity: A Los Angeles man who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor...
The "appearance of partiality" or just a true Reaganite concerned about federal overreaching and costs to taxpayers?
Posted on July 15, 2009I just got a chance to read closely this mandamus ruling issued late last week by the Seventh Circuit in which a panel granted the federal prosecutor's motion to have a district judge disqualified because, according to the Seventh Circuit,...
"Sex Offender Begs For More Jail Time"
Posted on July 15, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this new piece from ABC News that discusses sex offender residency restrictions and other challenges that sex offenders now face as they seek a return to society. Here is how the...
Robust legislative debate over NC Racial Justice Act
Posted on July 15, 2009As detailed in this local article, which is headined "Death penalty bill provokes a battle: Measure moves in fractious House," legislators in North Carolina are engaged in a robust debate over a bill seeking to prevent racial bias from infecting...
Former NFL back Travis Henry gets 3 years in federal prison for drug dealing
Posted on July 15, 2009From the sport desk comes this afternoon sentencing story from the federal courts in Montana: A federal judge Wednesday sentenced former NFL player Travis Henry to three years in prison for financing a drug ring that moved cocaine between Colorado...
Has anything interesting happened during the Sotomayor hearings?
Posted on July 15, 2009Though I have read snippets of some Q&A with Judge Sotomayor that mentioned gun rights and the death penalty, I am finding the entire spectacle of this week's confirmation hearings both boring and off-putting. Am I missing something, or was...
"Marijuana Nation: The New War Over Weed"
Posted on July 15, 2009The title of this post is the name given to this new CBSNews.com "special report on the evolving debate over marijuana legalization in the United States." Here are the titles and links to some of the new pieces in the...
Timely topics as time for NASC Annual Conference approaches
Posted on July 15, 2009I am pleased to be able to again highlight this year's National Association of Sentencing Commissions annual conference, which is held August 2-4, 2009 in Baltimore, Maryland. As I have noted before, though this year's conference is titled "15 Years....
Can concerns for dollars and cents finally bring sense to federal mandatory minimum sentencing statutes?
Posted on July 14, 2009As previously previewed here, the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security this morning held a hearing this morning on "Mandatory Minimums and Unintended Consequences." I cannot yet find any press reports on the hearing, but all of...
Big break given to prominent former judge/prosecutor for back-end cooperation
Posted on July 14, 2009A helpful reader alerted me to this local story of a notable white-collar defendant getting a huge back-end sentencing break for cooperation. Here are the details: Sam Currin, a former judge, federal prosecutor and state Republican Party chairman, was ordered...
Intriguing Sixth Circuit ruling on victim access to PSR
Posted on July 14, 2009A little opinion from the Sixth Circuit yesterday In re Siler, No. 08-5215 (6th Cir. July 13, 2009) (available here), should be reviewed by any and everyone interested in victims' right to access presentencing reports and/or in defendants' rights to....
SCOTUS grants stay in Virginia capital case raising intriguing double jeopardy claim
Posted on July 14, 2009I noted here last week the notable case of Powell v. Kelly, a capital case from Virigina raising a notable double jeopary claim. This Washington Examiner article reports on the latest development in the case: The U.S. Supreme Court halted...
More notable sentencing reform talk from Attorney General Holder
Posted on July 14, 2009Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder gave this talk at the NAACP?s Centennial Convention. Here are the sections that speak to sentencing issues: [W]e must keep working to build a more effective, more efficient, more equitable system of criminal justice...
State senator Fumo gets below-guideline sentence of 55-months imprisonment on corruption charges
Posted on July 14, 2009I got this great graphic here and the breaking news concerning the federal sentencing outcomes from state senator Vince Fumo thanks to live-blogging here from folks in Philly. After what appears to have been a full-day sentencing hearing, Fumo should...
Might Judge Sotomayor think the Second Amendment "deserves to be on equal footing with the First Amendment" for ex-cons?
Posted on July 14, 2009The question in title of this post is drawn from a line from this commentary at FOXNews authored by Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski, which carries the headline "Sotomayor, Civil Rights and Guns." The piece is focused principally on whether...
"States Seek Less Costly Substitutes For Prison"
Posted on July 13, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this article from today's Washington Post. Here is how the piece gets started: Cash-strapped states are increasingly turning to alternative sentencing methods and to streamlined probation and parole as a way....
Eighth Circuit en banc ruling finally affirms big variance after Gall GVR
Posted on July 13, 2009The Eighth Circuit today handed down an important en banc ruling today in US v. Feemster, No. 06-2059 (8th Cir. July 13, 2009) (avaialable here). Here is the unofficial summary of the ruling from the circuit's website: Judge Smith, Author...
Should we expect (or hope) any Sotomayor surprises this week?
Posted on July 13, 2009As detailed in this latest Washington Post piece, everyone inside the Beltawy is "geared up this morning for a historic Supreme Court confirmation battle as Sonia Sotomayor prepared to take her seat in front of the 19 members of the...
Whither the Webb reform bill ... does it weather or wither?
Posted on July 13, 2009I just discovered this long piece from last week's Washington Post discussing Senator Jim Webb and his on-going efforts to engineer some effective criminal justice reforms. The piece is headlined "Structuring Sentences: Jim Webb Puts His Writerly Skills to Work...
A week worth watching from a white-collar sentencing perspective
Posted on July 13, 2009Late monday afternoon is the scheduled federal sentencing of lawyer Marc Dreier in New York City, who might be viewed as a kind of mini-Madoff. As detailed in prior posts here and here, there are lots of interesting elements to...
"America's Jail Crisis"
Posted on July 13, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this effective new piece in Forbes. Here are excerpts: Amid budget crises, falling tax revenue and national unemployment approaching 10%, jails ? usually city- or county-run holding facilities for those serving...
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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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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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