Sentencing Law & Policy

As reported in this CBS News piece, headlined "Lyle Menendez set for parole board hearing day after brother was denied," California parole practices are getting significant attention thanks to a couple of high-profile hearings. Here are some details: After the... Douglas A. Berman Celebrity sentencings Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

In this post from January 2025, I flagged a ruling by Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal holding that a state requirement for convicted sexual predators to have the words "SEXUAL PREDATOR" on their driver’s licenses violated their First Amendment... Douglas A. Berman Collateral consequences Sex Offender Sentencing

An Eleventh Circuit panel issued a notable Second Amendment ruling yesterday in Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, et al. v. Attorney General of the United States, et al., No. 22-13893 (11th Cir. Aug. 20, 2025) (available here). Though the case is... Douglas A. Berman Gun policy and sentencing Second Amendment issues

The title of this post is the title of this new paper available via SSRN authored by Ian Ayres and Fredrick Vars. Here is its abstract: In February of this year, we published a call for the government to relaunch... Douglas A. Berman Collateral consequences Second Amendment issues

In this post last week, I asked "Will Prez Trump's federal take-over of DC police lead to more federal charges and sentencings?". This new New York Times article, headlined "Pirro Orders Office to Maximize Criminal Charges on Street Arrests," certainly... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Who Sentences

Based on newly public emails, there are two new articles about Justice Department official in January of this year complaing about one set of out-going Prez Biden's mass clemency actions: From the New York Post, "Biden DOJ ripped White House... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

A helpful reader sent me this notable local article from Louisiana about a sex offender plea deal with some notable terms. Here are the details: A Leesville man agreed to be physically and chemically castrated as part of a plea... Douglas A. Berman Criminal Sentences Alternatives Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sex Offender Sentencing Who Sentences

As reported in this AP piece, a "man convicted of abducting a woman from a Florida Panhandle insurance office and killing her received a lethal injection Tuesday evening in the state’s record 10th execution this year." Here is more: Kayle... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms

I just came across a notable ruling from a Third Circuit panel late last week in US v. Harmon, No. 24-2057 (3d Cir. Aug. 14, 2025) (available here) addressing the required process for the adjudication of sentence reduction motions under... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered

As detailed on this page at DOJ's Office of the Pardon Attorney, Prez Donald Trump was quite active with his clemency pen at the start of his second term in the Oval Office. In fact, he granted multiple pardons in... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

I was pleased to see a number of new items on the US Sentencing Commission's website this morning, including the announcement of new "Crime Victims Fact Sheets." The USSC website front page describes the new work as a new series... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Detailed sentencing data Victims' Rights At Sentencing

Over at SCOTUSblog, Rory Little has this notable new post, titled "The hidden prevalence of criminal law at the Supreme Court." which discusses that many "civil" cases taken up by the Justices have "criminal law implications." That post looks back... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this new article recently posted to SSRN and authored by Katharine Skolnick. Here is its abstract: Despite an increasing number of critiques from many commentators-abolitionists, social scientists, and fiscal conservatives among... Douglas A. Berman Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered

A new essay here from the Behind The Bench Newsletter has LawProf Kristen Bell discussing her interesting historical work regarding an interesting limit on state powers in some state constitutions. The essay is worth a full read, and here are... Douglas A. Berman Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The US Sentencing Commission continue to keep busy over the dog days of summer as evidenced by this week's publication of a bunch of new and updated reports on an array of federal sentencing topics. Here are the basics from... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Detailed sentencing data Federal Sentencing Guidelines Who Sentences

The Council on Criminal Justice is continuing to produce notable new reports on veterans and criminal justice systems. The latest CCJ report, available here, is titled "Falling Through the Cracks: Gaps in Identifying Veterans on Community Supervision." Here is the... Douglas A. Berman Offender Characteristics Reentry and community supervision

The New York Times has this notable and lengthy editorial headlined "Crime Keeps Falling. Here’s Why." There are a number of contestable and uncontestable claims in this editorial, but I am especially wary about any confident asertions about what we... Douglas A. Berman National and State Crime Data

The title of this post is the title of this new book from Bloomsbury Publishing which brings together an extraordinary collection of authors looking at parole policy and practice from a wide array of perspectives. Here is how the publisher... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Reentry and community supervision Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

Via email, I learned of two notable new policy papers from the folks at the Justice Policy Institute regarding state prison matters. Here are the titles and links along with a brief pverview from JPI: "Unlocking Virginia’s Workforce: The Economic... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners Scope of Imprisonment

Paul Cassell writing here at The Volokh Conspirary flags an interesting new ruling in a case involving a federal criminal conviction and sentencing of a police officer for using excessive force. The post provides details about the case and Paul's... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Offender Characteristics Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences