Sentencing Law & Policy

The title of this post is the title of this notable new report from the Justice Innovation Lab authored by Rory Pulvino, Dan Sutton, and JJ Naddeo. Here are parts of the report's "Introduction": [W]e tested ChatGPT (model 3.5-Turbo) on... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

As reported in this AP article, a "man convicted of the 1994 killings of his wife and their two children became the ninth person put to death in Florida this year, his death Thursday marking a state record for a... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Death Penalty Reforms

The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Alexandra Natapoff and now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: The U.S. penal apparatus is a bundle of wildly divergent practices. Police in some cities... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Race, Class, and Gender Who Sentences

The Council of State Governments Justice Center has produced a notable new report titled "The Supervision Violations and Their Impact on Incarceration." This CSG webpage provides this overview of the report and highlights: New data from The Council of State... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Reentry and community supervision Scope of Imprisonment

A busy summer continues for the US Sentencing Commission. A couple of weeks ago, as detailed here, the Commission conducted a "Public Hearing on Retroactivity" to "gather testimony from invited witnesses concerning whether to designate as retroactive certain 2025 guideline... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Who Sentences

Recent posts here and here highlighting terrific crime declines in the United States so far in 2025 are just part of an lengthy series of crime news posts that reported mostly sobering news from 2020 to 2022 followed by much... Douglas A. Berman National and State Crime Data

The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by F. Andrew Hessick and Carissa Byrne Hessick now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: Presidents, prosecutors, and judges often announce policies on how they will... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

When SCOTUS is winding down a term in late June/early July, I typically find myself over at SCOTUSblog multiple times a day. During the Court's summer recess, though, I will not always make a habit of checking out SCOTUSblog regularly.... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences