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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.
"Attorney: Man Dealing With Poison Ivy, Not Masturbating"
Posted on November 20, 2010A helpful reader altered me to this amusing article carrying the headline that I made the title of this post. Here are the comical details: A sex offender treatment supervisor for a Kentucky prison has been charged with indecent exposure....
"State Victim Advocate: Too Many Plea Deals"
Posted on November 20, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this interesting new piece in the Hartford Courant. Here are excerpts: More than 95 percent of cases in the state's court system over the past four years were resolved without a...
Complaints about capital justice delayed in Nevada
Posted on November 20, 2010Echoing a similar piece from Ohio noted earlier this week, a local station in Las Vegas has this new piece about capital justice delayed in Nevada. The story is headlined "Victim's Families Wait Decades for Death Penalties to be Carried...
Federal judge cutting deal to avoid prison time for drugs, guns and stripper activities
Posted on November 19, 2010As reported in this piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which is headlined "Federal judge to plead guilty in drug case," senior U.S. District Judge Jack Camp appears to have worked out a sweet plea deal following his arrest on various...
Out-going Ohio Governor giving focused attention to clemency requests
Posted on November 19, 2010As detailed in this local article, which is headlined "Gov. Strickland plans to decide on 1,200 clemency requests before leaving office," Ohio's out-going governor is planning to get through a huge pile of clemency petitions before he is out of...
Senator Dorgan pushing AG Holder to push states on AWA sex offender tracking
Posted on November 19, 2010As detailed in this news piece, which is headlined "Senator to push states to comply with sex offenders law," at least one member of the Senate is not happy that the Justice Department keeps giving states more time to comply...
"Rethinking Criminal Justice ? Why Black Prosecutors Matter"
Posted on November 19, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this interesting new piece appearing in New America Media. Here is how it begins: Nearly three weeks after the midterm elections, the winner of the hard-fought race to become California?s next...
Regular executions not stopping complaints about capital justice delayed in Ohio
Posted on November 19, 2010I was intrigued and somewhat surprised to see this segment, headlined "Death Penalty Cases Stalled In Appeals Court," on my late local news last night. Complaints about the slow pace of death penalty appeals seem less common when a state...
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejects attack on juve LWOP for murderer
Posted on November 19, 2010As detailed in this report in the Austin American-Statesman, earlier this week the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that "sentencing juvenile murderers to life in prison without any chance of parole is not unreasonably harsh." Here are more details...
Notable new publication on deterrence from The Sentencing Project
Posted on November 19, 2010Today I received an e-mail about a new publication about deterrence from the folks at The Sentencing Project. Here is the text: We are pleased to let you know of our new publication, Deterrence in Criminal Justice: Evaluating Certainty versus...
"It's 'give back' time: Locally grown foods and criminal sentences"
Posted on November 19, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this interesting op-ed in today's Chicago Tribune authored by Professors Lynn Branham and Bruce Branham. As the title hints, the piece has a creative proposal for an alternative sentencing program. Here...
"Ghailani Still Faces Stiff Penalty for Bombings"
Posted on November 18, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this lengthy and effective new CBS News piece discussing some of the sentencing issues following yesterday's conviction (on only one of 285 counts) of a former GITMO detainee tried in civilian...
Senators Leahy and Durbin write letter to Attorney General Holder urging application of FSA to pending cases
Posted on November 18, 2010I am very pleased to have learned this morning of a potent two-page letter, dated November 17, 2010, signed by Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator Dick Durbin to Attorney General Eric Holder, which urges the Justice Department to "apply [the...
"Arizona mandatory-sentencing laws targeted"
Posted on November 18, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this article about a debate over budget-driven sentencing reform talk among legislators in Arizona. Here are excerpts: A GOP lawmaker on Wednesday vowed to propose legislation next year that would give...
Eleventh Circuit affirms variance of 7+ years above child porn guideline range
Posted on November 17, 2010The Eleventh Circuit has a notable opinion today in US v. Turner, No. 09-15074 (11th Cir. Nov. 17, 2010) (available here), which affirms an 25-year above-guideline sentence for a child porn downloader. The district court threw the book at the...
Indiana Attorney General urges examination of death penalty's costs
Posted on November 17, 2010As detailed in this effective local article, which is headlined "Lawmakers urged to debate steep costs of death penalty," Indiana's AG is urging his state to consider seriously the economics of the administration of the death penalty. Here are excerpts...
"Reimagining Criminal Justice"
Posted on November 17, 2010The title of this post is the title of this provocative new article from Cecelia Klingele, Michael Scott and Walter Dickey available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: The criminal justice system needs more than reform. It requires reimagining. In...
"Nevada judge sentencing some to service, not jail"
Posted on November 17, 2010The title of this post is the headline of this encouraging local article, and here are excerpts: In the first days of his three-month stint as interim East Fork justice of the peace, Senior Judge Steven R. McMorris began the...
ACLU files complaint attacking constitutionality of LWOP for nine juves convicted of murder in Michigan
Posted on November 17, 2010As detailed in this local article, which is headlined "ACLU fights law sentencing kids to life in prison," the American Civil Liberties Union "sued the State of Michigan today on behalf of nine people who were sentenced to life in...
Post-Graham resentencing of juve rapist in Florida already testing meaning of Graham
Posted on November 17, 2010This local article from Florida, which is headlined "Teenage rapist Jose Walle re-sentenced to 65 years in prison," spotlights the impact of, and enduring questions surrounding, the Supreme Court's recent Graham decision declaring unconstitutional any LWOP sentence for a nonhomicide...
Animal creulty sentence of 12 years in prison stirring debate in Puerto Rico
Posted on November 17, 2010As detailed in this AP article, in Puerto Rico a "12-year prison sentence for a man who dragged a horse behind his truck has touched off a debate over whether a new animal cruelty law goes too far, when even...
Notable commentary about California's sex offender residency restrictions
Posted on November 16, 2010A couple of major papers in California have a couple of notable commentaries about the state's sex offender residency restrictions. First, the Sacremento Bee has this editorial, headlined "Jessica's Law needs a major overhaul." Here is a snippet: Proposition 83,...
Big dispute over guideline calculation for convicted former Chicago police commander
Posted on November 16, 2010This new article from the Chicago Tribune, which is headlined "Prosecutors: Burge should spend decades in prison; Lawyers say they'll seek probation for perjury, obstruction convictions," spotlights a notable guideline calculation dispute in a notable federal criminal case...
Does Abbott provide new and added support for applying the FSA to pending cases?
Posted on November 16, 2010The Supreme Court's unanimous (and unsurprising) opinion in Abbott v. US (available here; discussed here), which adopted the government's approach to the application of the special firearm sentencing provisions set forth in 924(c), may seem of little relevance to anyone...
Blakely meets Crawford in interesting NC appeals court ruling
Posted on November 16, 2010A couple of helpful readers alerted me to an interesting opinion issued today by a North Carolina intermediate appellate court in North Carolina v. Hurt, No. COA09-442 (N.C. App. Nov. 16, 2010) (available here). This paragraph from early in the...
New (biased?) death penalty poll provides more grist for debate
Posted on November 16, 2010This morning I received via e-mail this press release from the Death Penalty Information Center headlined "Poll Shows Growing Support for Alternatives to the Death Penalty; Capital Punishment Ranked Lowest Among Budget Priorities." Here is how the release starts: The...
"Talking About Prosecutors"
Posted on November 15, 2010The title of this post is the title of this intriguing looking article by Professor Alafair Burke, which is avaiable via SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article explores the narrative that the scholarly literature on wrongful convictions uses to...
Out-going Ohio Gov Ted Strickland commutes death sentence on eve of execution
Posted on November 15, 2010The Columbus Dispatch has this breaking news, headlined "Strickland spares killer of child from execution." Here are the details: In the last death penalty case he will face as governor, Ted Strickland this morning spared the life of convicted killer...
SCOTUS grants certiorari on two pauper defendant criminal justice petitions
Posted on November 15, 2010In addition to handing down a unanimous ruling in the Abbott mandatory minimum case (noted here), the SUpreme Court granted cert this morning to two new cases, Tolentino v. New York and Fowler v. United States. I believe Tolentino deals...
SCOTUS adopts majority reading of 924(c) mandatory minimum provisions in Abbott
Posted on November 15, 2010The Supreme Court today handed down its opinion in Abbott v. US, No. 09?479 (S. Ct. Nov. 15, 2010) (available here). The Justices unaniminously (and unsurprisingly) adopted the government's approach to the application of the mandatory minimum gun sentences set...
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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...
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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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