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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.
"Why Can?t Martha Stewart Have a Gun?"
Posted on March 17, 2009The title of this post is the title of a new article by C. Kevin Marshall that will appear the Spring 2009 issue of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. A helpful reader sent me a copy of...
First Circuit affirms sentence of "87-month term of immurement"
Posted on March 17, 2009There is nothing especially ground-breaking about the First Circuit's sentencing work in US v. Vargas, No. 08-1377 (1st Cir. March 17, 2009) (available here), but a word choice in the opening paragraph alone makes the opinion blog-worthy: Defendant-appellant Victor Vargas...
Here comes the Obama judges ... do we need to prepare for the "mass freeing of criminal defendants"?
Posted on March 17, 2009Just before the 2008 election, Senator John McCain wrote this op-ed asserting that "Obama's judges would coddle criminals," and Professor Steven Calabresi, in this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, warned that if Barack Obama becomes President and appoints a...
Lots of headlines about death penalty reform debates
Posted on March 17, 2009Lots of states are in the midst of debating the death penalty, resulting in lots of stories about these debates: From the Kansas City Star here, "Kansas Senate fails to advance death penalty repeal" From The New Mexico Independent here,...
New ACS brief urging a new approach to drug policy
Posted on March 17, 2009I just received an e-mail alerting me to this new issue brief from the American Constitution Society by Professor Alex Kreit, titled "Toward a Public Health Approach to Drug Policy." Here is the ACS's description of the paper: ACS is...
Will SCOTUS soon be considering California's corrections crisis?
Posted on March 16, 2009This new AP article, headlined "California fight over inmate care may go to high court," provides the latest developments in the various legal battle over California's corrections mess. Here are a few of the details: When the quality of health...
New York Times noticing Heller's lack of practical significance
Posted on March 16, 2009I am pleased to see that the Old Gray Lady is taking note of the fact that the Supreme Court's supposedly revolutionary Second Amendment ruling in Heller has not had much of a practical impact. Specifically, Adam Liptak has this...
Another notable new little data report from the USSC
Posted on March 16, 2009Lately the US Sentencing Commission has been producing a series of interesting little reports on interesting little federal sentencing topics. Specifically, just in the last few months we have gotten new (and reader-friendly) reports on federal escape offenses and on...
The "mire" and (slow-moving) "train wreck" that is federal criminal history sentencing
Posted on March 16, 2009In recent months, I have not blogged much about the lower-court mess that constitutes federal sentencing law and policy concerning the use of a defendant's state criminal history as an aggravating sentencing factor. Part of the reason for not discussing...
Kansas death penalty debate impacted by capital killers already on the row
Posted on March 16, 2009This article from the Topeka Capital Journal, which is headlined "Death penalty repeal on tap," details some of the ways in which a debate over repealing the death penalty in Kansas is being impacted by a couple defendants already condemned...
"Texas jail was an Animal House, authorities say"
Posted on March 16, 2009The title of this post is the headline of this AP story, which I just could not resist blogging. Here is how the piece starts: For months, perhaps longer, the Montague County Jail was "Animal House" meets Mayberry. Inside the...
Deep thoughts about punishment theory and the genius behind the MPC
Posted on March 16, 2009Professor Anders Walker has now posted here on SSRN a great-looking new piece that should help me while I otherwise wait impatiently for the NCAA basketball tourney to get started. The piece is titled "American Oresteia: Herbert Wechsler, the Model...
Gov. Richardson asking for public input on whether to sign death penalty abolition bill
Posted on March 15, 2009As noted in this post, late Friday the New Mexico state legislature finally passed a bill to repeal the death penalty in that state. Now, as detailed in this local story, Gov. Bill Richardson is actively seeking public input concerning...
Sex offender registration news and notes
Posted on March 15, 2009Two local stories in the Sunday papers provide two interesting ground-level perspectives on the challenges and difficulties posed by sex offender registration laws: From the Providence Journal here, "Implementing sex offender registration law may prove impossible" From the Atlanta Journal...
A new opportunity to assess the economy/crime rate connection
Posted on March 15, 2009The relationship between economic conditions and crime rates has always been considered an important (and unclear) component of criminal justice realities. This interesting new article from today's Denver Post, which is headlined "This time, economy, crime fall in tandem: Metro...
Seeking help and input from would-be "Bookerologists"
Posted on March 14, 2009As all sports fans know, this is the time of year in which so-called "bracketology" becomes the key to fame and happiness, and in which so-called "bracketologists" can shine as a result of their ability to sort through obscure data...
A (too?) forceful assertion of the reverse-Marshall hypothesis
Posted on March 13, 2009I have been talking to my students about the so-called "Marshall hypothesis," which is an interesting claim about public opinion on the death penalty (and raises great issues of constitutional theory). The "Marshall hypothesis" is a reference to the opinion...
US Sentencing Commission releases 2008 Annual Report and Sourcebook
Posted on March 13, 2009Though this weekend I likely will have a severe case of March Madness with lots of thinking about RPI data, the US Sentencing Commission has just released a set of materials on its website that would also enable me to...
The specifics of criminal justice in the Obama Administration still coming into focus
Posted on March 13, 2009As detailed in this New York Times article, the Senate yesterday confirmed (with a little controversy over porn) two key Obama appointment for the Department of Justice: The Senate confirmed David W. Ogden as deputy attorney general on Thursday, by...
Fourth Circuit reverses set of federal convictions under SORNA
Posted on March 13, 2009A split Fourth Circuit panel this afternoon reversed a set of convictions under the federal sex offender registration laws. The majority opinion in US v. Hatcher, No. 07-4839 (4th Cir. March 13, 2009) (available here), starts this way: In these...
New Mexico legislature votes to repeal death penalty
Posted on March 13, 2009As detailed in this AP story, New Mexico may be on the verge of getting rid of capital punishment: The state legislature voted today to repeal the death penalty, meaning New Mexico could become the 15th US state not to...
Lots of buzzing around Bernie Madoff's day in courts
Posted on March 12, 2009Today is plea day for Bernie Madoff, and the media is giving this case plenty of attention. Here are just some of the notable headlines/stories I have seen this morning: From ABC News here, "Calls for Justice: Madoff Victims Anxious...
Noting the quicker pace of executions in Texas
Posted on March 12, 2009As detailed in this AP story, Texas executed on Wednesday its second defendant is as many nights, bringing its total number of executions for 2009 up to 12. And, reporting on a trend I have been noting in prior posts,...
Sidebar discussion of "The Subjective Experience of Punishment"
Posted on March 12, 2009In prior posts here and here, I highlighted Adam Kolber's interesting article, titled "The Subjective Experience of Punishment," which was published by the Columbia Law Review. I am pleased to report that today the Columbia Law Review published on it...
Bernie Madoff finally pulls "Go Directly To Jail" card after all his money games
Posted on March 12, 2009As detailed in this new AP report, after his guilty plea Bernie Madoff "was led out of court with his hands cuffed behind his back" because "U.S. District Judge Denny Chin denied bail for Madoff, 70, and ordered him to...
Two different Posnerian views of federal prosecutorial behavior
Posted on March 12, 2009The Seventh Circuit handed down a set of interesting criminal law opinions today, and two different panel opinions (both of which are authored by Judge Richard Posner) provide two quite different perspectives on the modern work of federal prosecutors and...
Three years in prison for Iraqi journalist who threw shoe at President Bush
Posted on March 12, 2009This Washington Post article discusses the recent sentencing in Baghdad for the Iraqi journalist who committed a notable crime that everyone got to see thanks to modern video: A Baghdad judge ruled Thursday that an Iraqi journalist who hurled his...
"Into the Twilight Zone: Informing Judicial Discretion in Federal Sentencing"
Posted on March 12, 2009The title of this post is the title of this interesting-looking new article by Professor Mary Kreiner Ramirez that I just came across via SSRN. Heres is the abstract: Recent changes in federal sentencing have shifted discretionary decision-making back to...
Split Fourth Circuit ruling upholding above-guideline sentence shows another circuit struggling with reasonableness review
Posted on March 12, 2009The Fourth Circuit today through its decision in US v. Heath, No. 07-4715 (4th Cir. March 12, 2009) (available here), provides yet another example (like yesterday's opinions from the Ninth Circuit) of circuit judges struggling to give meaning and content...
"Europeans Debate Castration of Sex Offenders"
Posted on March 11, 2009The title of this article is the title of this interesting piece in today's New York Times. The piece is a must-read for anyone focused on sex offender law and policy, in part because of one startling piece of (old)...
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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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