Sentencing Law & Policy

The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper authored by Jacob Bronsther now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: This Article attempts to unite the movements against the death penalty and mass incarceration. The... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Scope of Imprisonment

Prez Trump is not yet tired of using his clemency pen, as this new New York Times piece reports: "President Trump on Wednesday issued full and unconditional pardons to two Washington, D.C., police officers convicted after a chase that killed... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

When speaking to a libertarian group in May of last year, as noted in this post and reported in this Fox News piece, Donald Trump "vowed to commute the prison sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the online drug-selling... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Drug Offense Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

Reported today in Politico and the Washington Post and other outlets is this notable new memo (dated January 21, 2025) from the Department of Justice titled "Interim Policy Changes Regarding Charging, Sentencing, And Immigration Enforcement." The press pieces highlight the... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

The first "opinion" of the current Supreme Court Term was handed down as a curious little per curiam ruling in Hamm v. Smith after a recond number of relists. As dicussed in this post from early November 2024, the Court... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

At the local level, sheriffs ofer have responsibilities for jails. At the national level, the President has ultimate reponsibility for federal prisons. And, with a new President, we get some new prison developments as reported in these two new pieces:... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Prisons and prisoners Who Sentences

As well summarized in this AP article, "President Donald Trump signed a sweeping execution order Monday on the death penalty." Here is more: Trump’s order, coming just hours after he returned to the White House, compels the Justice Department to... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Death Penalty Reforms Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

Prez Trump, only hours after returning to the presidency, made robust use of his clemency powers by granting commutations and pardons for via this order titled "GRANTING PARDONS AND COMMUTATION OF SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES RELATING TO THE EVENTS AT... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

In this post four years ago as Prez Biden took over from Prez Trump, I noted that, on the the first full day of the new Biden Administration (January 21, 2021), the federal Bureau of Prisons then reported "Total Federal... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Biden Administration Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Prisons and prisoners Scope of Imprisonment

Given his many notable clemency actions before his last day in office, I had a feeling out-going Prez Joe Biden was going to keep using his clemency pen up to the very last monment. These various stories about various grants... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Criminal justice in the Biden Administration Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

I have been on the road for most of January, leading me to see a lot of intriguing press pieces from a variety of sources that I have not had time to flag on the blog. (Also, all sorts of... Douglas A. Berman Recommended reading

As reported in this New York Times piece, "President Biden pardoned five activists and public servants on Sunday, including a posthumous grant of clemency to the civil rights leader Marcus Garvey, who mobilized the Black nationalist movement and was convicted... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The title of this post is the headline of this interesting new piece at The Intercept by Liliana Segura. I recommend the piece in full, and here are excerpts: In the days after President Joe Biden commuted his death sentence,... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Death Penalty Reforms Prisons and prisoners

As first mentioned in this post a few weeks ago, the editors of the Federal Sentencing Reporter are seeking articles for a new FSR issue on “A Justice System Crossroads: Reflecting on Biden’s Record and Projecting a Second Trump Term.”... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Biden Administration Criminal justice in the Trump Administration

The US Supreme Court this afternoon granted cert in five cases this afternoon via this order list. Only one of the five involves criminal matters, Bowe v. United States, No. 24-5438, but this one may warm the heart of post-conviction... Douglas A. Berman

After a notably modest use of his clemency powers prior to the latest election, Prez Biden is on a historic clemency tear over the last eight weeks. Today's actiona are set forth in this "Statement from President Joe Biden on... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Criminal justice in the Biden Administration Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled yesterday in E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera, No. 23-217(S. Ct. Jan. 15, 2025) (available here), that a showing under the Fair Labor Standards Act calls for the "usual standard of proof in civil litigation [of]... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing

Via this new substack post by Chris Geidner, I see that Attorney General Merrick Garland sent this letter to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to order rescinding the the federal execution protocol "which provides for lethal injection of... Douglas A. Berman Baze and Glossip lethal injection cases Death Penalty Reforms Who Sentences

I only had a chance to listen to a small portion of the hearings today in the Senate Judiciary Committee involving Prez-Elect Trump's nominee for Attorney General of the United States, Pam Bondi. What I did hear leads me to... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration FIRST STEP Act and its implementation Prisons and prisoners Who Sentences

Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal handed down an interesting ruling late last week in Crist v. Florida, No. 5D2022-2966 (5th App. Fla. Jan. 10, 2025) (available here). This press piece explains the basics effectively, and it starts this way:... Douglas A. Berman Collateral consequences Sentences Reconsidered Sex Offender Sentencing