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Updated: 2 hours 11 min ago
7 hours 50 min ago
In this recent post reviewing the Supreme Court Term just completed, I suggested that Esteras v. United States, which addresses federal supervised release decision-making, could have significant practical impact over an important component of the federal criminal justice system. But...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing
Reentry and community supervision
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
8 hours 46 min ago
The quoted portion of the title of this post is the headline of this effective Law360 piece reviewing an array of recent state law developments regarding LWOP punishments for younger offenders. I recommend the lengthy piece in full, and here...
Douglas A. Berman
Assessing Graham and its aftermath
Assessing Miller and its aftermath
Offender Characteristics
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
11 hours 21 min ago
The Surpeme Court released this lengthy order list this morning, and there are a number of items throughout the 32-page list that will be of interest to criminal law fans. For starters, we get a few GVRs based on the...
Douglas A. Berman
Who Sentences
Sun, 06/29/2025 - 12:29
This official webpage with links to the US Supreme Court's merits opinion for its October Term 2024 lists 66 opinions, though less than 60 are what I would categorize as full opinions. Based on my too-quick review and accounting of...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Sun, 06/29/2025 - 10:25
While I was distracted by all the Supreme Court end-of-Term action, last week the US Sentencing Commission released its latest federal sentencing quarterly data report which is titled "2nd Quarter Release, Preliminary Fiscal Year 2025 Data Through March 31, 2025."...
Douglas A. Berman
Booker in district courts
Data on sentencing
Detailed sentencing data
Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Sat, 06/28/2025 - 10:19
The title of this post is the title of this new paper now available via SSRN authored by Jordan Blair Woods. Here is its abstract: Many cities, villages, and towns rely on fines, fees, and other monetary sanctions from traffic...
Douglas A. Berman
Fines, Restitution and Other Economic Sanctions
Offense Characteristics
Who Sentences
Fri, 06/27/2025 - 14:04
The Supreme Court mostly wrapped up its docket for October Term 2024 this morning with a whole bunch of 6-3 rulings in civil cases sure to garner lots of attention. (I say "mostly" because there is likely to be a...
Douglas A. Berman
Apprendi / Blakely Retroactivity
Blakely Commentary and News
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Who Sentences
Fri, 06/27/2025 - 09:02
The title of this post is the title of this article now available via SSRN and authored by Guerra Thompson Sandra and Samantha Medlin. Here is its abstract: Scholars have written much about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legacy...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Who Sentences
Thu, 06/26/2025 - 12:57
Because I believe the Surpeme Court reached the right result in Hewitt this morning when interpretting the reach of a sentencing provision in the First Step Act (basics here), I suppose I should be content. But upon first read, I...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Who Sentences
Thu, 06/26/2025 - 11:16
The Supreme Court this morning handed down a standing ruling in a capital case via Guitierrez v. Saenz, No. 23-7809 (S. Ct. June 26, 2025) (available here). The vote was 6-3, and here are the particulars of the votes of...
Douglas A. Berman
Death Penalty Reforms
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Thu, 06/26/2025 - 10:17
The Supreme Court this morning handed down its final big sentencing opinion of the Term with Hewitt v. United States, No. 23-1002 (S. Ct. June 26, 2025) (available here). The vote was 5-4, and here are the particulars of the...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Wed, 06/25/2025 - 22:05
As reported in this AP piece, the "longest-serving man on Mississippi’s death row was executed Wednesday, nearly five decades after he kidnapped and killed a bank loan officer’s wife in a violent ransom scheme." Here is more: Richard Gerald Jordan,...
Douglas A. Berman
Death Penalty Reforms
Wed, 06/25/2025 - 21:50
The question in the title of this post is prompted by this new article by Keith Humphreys in The Atlantic headlined "America’s Incarceration Rate Is About to Fall Off a Cliff." I recommend the article in full because there are...
Douglas A. Berman
Data on sentencing
Scope of Imprisonment
Wed, 06/25/2025 - 11:46
Via email I reveiced news yesterday that the American Civil Liberties Union has released this new report on “death qualification” in capital cases titled "Fatal Flaws: Revealing the Racial and Religious Gerrymandering of the Capital Jury." Here is a portion...
Douglas A. Berman
Death Penalty Reforms
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Who Sentences
Wed, 06/25/2025 - 11:36
In this post a few months ago, I flagged not only the first issue of Volume 37 of the Federal Sentencing Reporter (titled "Booker at Twenty"), but also that FSR had a shiny new publisher, Duke University Press, as well...
Douglas A. Berman
Recommended reading
Technocorrections
Tue, 06/24/2025 - 19:06
As reported in this AP article, a "man convicted of raping and killing a woman near a central Florida bar was executed Tuesday evening. Thomas Lee Gudinas, 51, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection at...
Douglas A. Berman
Death Penalty Reforms
Who Sentences
Tue, 06/24/2025 - 10:24
It has been a little while since I highlighted here posts from the Sentencing Matters Substack, though I hope readers are keeping up with (and are subscribed to) the SMS action that usually appears as long-form essays posted at least...
Douglas A. Berman
Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Who Sentences
Tue, 06/24/2025 - 10:02
The question in the title of this post is prompted by this new Marijuana Moment article headlined "Letting Marijuana Users Have Guns Poses ‘A Clear Danger,’ Trump’s Solicitor General Tells Supreme Court." The article reviews much of the recent lower...
Douglas A. Berman
Drug Offense Sentencing
Gun policy and sentencing
Second Amendment issues
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Mon, 06/23/2025 - 19:50
The title of this post is the title of this new article now available via SSRN authored by Renagh O'Leary. Here is its abstract: This Article describes and critiques a practice I call the ideological testing of criminal defendants. Ideological...
Douglas A. Berman
Offender Characteristics
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Mon, 06/23/2025 - 14:35
I likely should make even more of an effort to flag here the always great work done by the folks at The Marshall Project, and three new original pieces prompts me to do this quick round up. All three of...
Douglas A. Berman
Prisons and prisoners
Sex Offender Sentencing
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