(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense
Find a Local Lawyer
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402
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.
Eleventh Circuit panel splits over whether Kimbrough now allows consideration of fast-track disparity
Posted on August 19, 2008A split decision today from the Eleventh Circuit in US v. Vega-Castillo, No. 07-12141 (11th Cir. Aug. 19, 2008) (available here), spotlights an important post-Kimbrough issue that arguably has already created a circuit split. The first two paragraphs of the...
Interesting sentencing data coming from Nevada study
Posted on August 19, 2008This article from the Carson Times reports on a sentencing study coming from Nevada that includes some notable and perhaps surprising findings: About 12.5 percent of felony defendants sentenced in Nevada in 2007 received punishments that fell outside the limits...
NY Times editorial on juves in adult prison
Posted on August 19, 2008Today's New York Times has this editorial, headlined "Some Progress on Kids and Jails." Here is how it starts: The number of minors being held in adult jails and prisons in this country has dropped substantially, according to a new...
Another notable sentencing opinion in a child porn downloading case
Posted on August 18, 2008I mentioned in this recent post that I have noticed an extraordinary amount of variation in charging, bargaining and sentencing realities in child porn downloading cases. And today I received a copy of a recent sentencing opinion in such a...
Seeking data sets on the SCOTUS criminal docket
Posted on August 18, 2008Over at SCOTUSblog is this new post, headlined "ABA Review: The Supreme Court?s OT07 Criminal Docket." That post links to a previous SCOTUSblog review of the Justices' voting records during the 2007 October Term, and it also links to this...
"Sentencing Children to Die in Prison"
Posted on August 18, 2008The title of this post is the title of this piece authored by Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund, which now appears over at The Huffington Post. The post is mostly about the Equal Justice Initiative's report...
Interesting "loss" issue in Sixth Circuit case
Posted on August 18, 2008The Sixth Circuit this morning has an interesting discussion of loss calculations within the federal guidelines in affirming a sentence in US v. Simpson, No. 07-5840 (6th Cir. Aug. 18, 2008) (available here). Here is how the Simpson opinion starts:...
Letting them out when sick or dying
Posted on August 18, 2008This effective article from Alabama highlights one way that states are looking to reduce their prison populations: Next month Alabama will start releasing sick or dying prison inmates, a move that state prison officials say immediately will start saving taxpayers...
A good question about prison nation ... dodged
Posted on August 17, 2008Though I did not have a chance to watch the forum at Saddleback Church put together last night by Reverend Rick Warren (which sounds as if it was quite interesting), I am pleased to learn that someone has finally asked...
Acquitting and downloading some additional USSC priorities
Posted on August 17, 2008As noted in this prior post, earlier this month the US Sentencing Commission posted here its "Federal Register Notice of proposed priorities and request for public comment." Though I am pleased to see some of what the USSC is suggesting...
Are all states going to need to create old-age prisons?
Posted on August 17, 2008This article in today's Kansas City Star, headlined "Missouri uses special unit to cope with growing numbers of geriatric inmates," spotlights one way that one state is dealing with an aging prison population. Here are excerpts: As states and the...
Persistent confusion over ex-felon voting rights
Posted on August 17, 2008This local Alabama piece, headlined "State's felon voting law still unclear," tells a story that seems too common: even when states make efforts to restore the voting rights of former felons, legal confusion and uncertainty often reigns. Here is the....
Effective review of implementation of crack retroactivity
Posted on August 16, 2008This local article, headlined "Virginia leads in crack sentence reductions," provides a terrific review of some of the latest realities in the retroactive application of the new federal crack guidelines. Here are some excerpts from the article: Virginia leads the...
A close look at death in the First State
Posted on August 16, 2008A new article now up here at SSRN, which looks closely at one state's death penalty, looks like useful weekend reading. The article is titled "The Death Penalty in Delaware: An Empirical Study," and here is the abstract: This article...
Judge Colloton calls upon Congress to address the post-Gall world
Posted on August 15, 2008In a concurrence to an Eighth Circuit reasonableness opinion in US v. Shy, No. 06-4011 (8th Cir. Aug 15, 2008) (available here), Circuit Judge Steven Colloton expresses concerns about sentencing disparity in the post-Booker world and urges Congress to do...
Capital punishment news and notes
Posted on August 15, 2008In addition to lots of new posts of note at Capital Defense Weekly and StandDown Texas Project, Howard Bashman got a chance here, just before heading out on a deserved vacation, to report on this Fifth Circuit ruling that denies...
Notable Second Circuit ACCA ruling
Posted on August 15, 2008The Second Circuit today has an interesting ruling about the application of the Armed Career Criminal Act in US v. Darden, No. 06-4567 (2d Cir. Aug 15, 2008) (available here). Here is how the decision starts: These four appeals, heard...
Important new white-collar opinion justifying below-guideline sentence
Posted on August 15, 2008As effectively covered in posts from at New York Federal Criminal Practice and White Collar Crime Prof Blog, District Judge Frederic Block issued an important new sentencing opinion in the white-collar case of US v. Parris, No. 05-CR-636 (EDNY Aug....
District Court rejects Second Amendment claim from misdemeanant
Posted on August 14, 2008Thanks to this post at The Volokh Conspiracy, I see that this week has brought another example of a federal district court working hard to make sure that the constitutional right recognized by the Supreme Court in Heller is categorically...
Sex offender reformation ... for a politician
Posted on August 14, 2008This new AP story, headlined "Crusading ex-Pa. lawmaker takes in sex offenders," has many interesting elements. Here is an excerpt: A former tough-on-crime Pennsylvania lawmaker has adopted a new and unpopular cause, taking into his home three sex offenders who...
Circuits continue to remand Kimbrough-impacted crack cases
Posted on August 14, 2008While district courts are sorting through issues surrounding retroactive application of the Sentencing Commission reduced crack sentencing guidelines (background here), the circuit courts continue to sorting through crack sentencing cases impacted by the Supreme Court's decision in Kimbrough...
NYTimes editorial makes pitch for juve courts
Posted on August 14, 2008Highlighting what is often really a sentencing issue, the New York Times recently published this editorial headlined, "The Case for Juvenile Courts." Here are excerpts: This country made a terrible mistake when it began routinely trying youthful offenders as adults...
Do victims care more about the sentencing process or sentencing results?
Posted on August 14, 2008I always find interesting the debate over victims' rights at sentencing, and this local story from Illinois highlights that some crime victims may care a lot more about speaking out than about sentencing outcomes: As the court proceedings against former...
New data on racial disparity in Nevada sentencing
Posted on August 13, 2008I bet regular readers will not be surprised to read reports here on here on the results of a new study about sentencing in Nevada. Here are some details from the Las Vegas Sun: Blacks get more prison time than...
Does Gall preclude calling any sentencing factor "inappropriate"?
Posted on August 13, 2008The Sixth Circuit's ruling yesterday to reverse a below-guideline sentence as unreasonable in US v. Davis, No. 05-3784 (6th Cir. Aug. 12, 2008) based on reliance on an "inappropriate sentencing factor" has generated some especially interesting and thoughtful comments...
Readings on prison reform history
Posted on August 13, 2008I often get many new and unexpected insights whenever I read legal history concerning sentencing and corrections. Thus, I am looking forward to finding the time to read this piece now appearing on SSRN, titled "Redemption to Reform: The Intellectual....
Thoughtful opinion focused on bad health as the basis for a below-guideline sentence
Posted on August 13, 2008A helpful reader sent me a copy of a lengthy and interesting sentencing opinion issued yesterday in US v. Rausch, No. No. 07-cr-00497 (D. Colo. Aug. 12, 2008) (available for download below). The opinion is focused mostly on using severe...
Some notable capital headlines
Posted on August 13, 2008Here are a few notable death penalty headlines atop stories that are worth checking out: From the AP here, "Expert says capital punishment dying out in Asia" From the Rocky Mountain News here, "Colorado juries leery of death penalty" From...
Ninth Circuit affirms above-guideline sentence with Kimbrough twist
Posted on August 12, 2008In a long and intricate opinion covering lots of issues, the Ninth Circuit today affirmed an above-guideline sentence in US v. Tankersly, No. 07-30334 (9th Cir. 2008) (available here). Here are snippets from the start of the opinion: Kendall Tankersley...
Sixth Circuit finds below-guideline sentence unreasonable for "inappropriate" factor
Posted on August 12, 2008The Sixth Circuit this morning reverses a below-guideline sentence as unreasonable in US v. Davis, No. 05-3784 (6th Cir. Aug. 12, 2008) (available here), based on reliance on an "inappropriate sentencing factor." Here is how the Davis opinion starts: A...
Previous | Next
Japan's International Child Abduction Policy
By Kirsten Brown (AXcess News) Washington - Four fathers quietly f...
Eminent domain, demographics and immigration policy
On the face of it, you may be wondering what eminent domain,...
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...
#1 Online Legal Resource
On 08-25 at 15:46PM
Acute perpendicular parking #NYPD #NYFD
On 08-18 at 22:18PM
Parallel parking gone bad. Too much gas UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:41PM
UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:25PM
Twitter suspends journalist critical of broadcast partner's coverage on dubious grounds @guyadams #nbcfail #twitterfail
On 07-30 at 17:57PM
Model example of 1st Amendment suppression by the People of New York City's Michael Bloomberg #OWS #NYPD
On 07-12 at 21:07PM
AG Holder lackadaisical on Operation in our Sites domain name seizures & RIAA lobbied free speech suppression @dajaz1
On 06-08 at 22:44PM
Why is the Catholic Church going to court over Obama contraception policy? @NewYorker commentary
On 05-31 at 10:08AM
Monks sue Louisiana for right to sell caskets made from forrest destroyed by Katrina
On 05-31 at 07:47AM
Are the abortion ultrasound laws headed for the Supreme Court?
On 05-15 at 21:52PM
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...
 |
|
Contact Us | About Us | Celebrity Law Blog |
Our Partners | Disclaimer
| Law Blog Directory
| Law Jobs
| Law Tweets
| GoDaddy Hosting
All original material � 1999-2011 by USLaw.com. |