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Wed, 03/05/2025 - 14:50
In this post late last week, I noted a new article by Daniel Loehr available via SSRN titled "The Eugenic History of Habitual Offender Laws." Today I received an email from The Sentencing Project about its new report, authored by...
Douglas A. Berman
Mandatory minimum sentencing statutes
Offender Characteristics
Scope of Imprisonment
Wed, 03/05/2025 - 13:39
As I have mentioned in the past and will surely mention again in the future, there are too many notable daily and weekly developments in our nation's prisons and jails to cover them all (or even to cover some well)...
Douglas A. Berman
Prisons and prisoners
Wed, 03/05/2025 - 09:29
NBC News has this lengthy new piece, headlined "Biden and Trump pardons come under scrutiny, renewing calls for reform," that is long on recent clemency criticisms (especially Prez Biden's last-minute clemency flurry) and short on serious clemency reform discussions. The...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Who Sentences
Tue, 03/04/2025 - 16:38
Via email, I learned of an exciting event taking place on April 4, 2025, in Phildelphia. Here is the event description drawn from the email text of LawProf Lucian Dervan, who is the Founding Director of the Plea Bargaining Institute:...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Tue, 03/04/2025 - 13:10
Thanks only to a Facebook post by John Pfaff, today I discovered that the Major Cities Chiefs Association has released this national data from its violent crime surveys at year end 2024. These data show that all categories of violent...
Douglas A. Berman
National and State Crime Data
Mon, 03/03/2025 - 09:56
The US Supreme Court this morning in this new order list granted certiorari in one case, and it is a criminal/sentencing matter. The petitioner via this cert petition in Barrett v. US, No. 24-5774, presented two questions to the Justices,...
Douglas A. Berman
Gun policy and sentencing
Mandatory minimum sentencing statutes
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Mon, 03/03/2025 - 09:11
As reported in this Washington Post piece, "Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has granted clemency to a former Fairfax County police sergeant who fatally shot an unarmed man thought to have stolen sunglasses. Wesley Shifflett was sentenced to three years...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Offender Characteristics
Offense Characteristics
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Sun, 03/02/2025 - 20:39
The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Ethan Lowens now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: Many of the most widely discussed and influential criminal legal reform proposals of the last several...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Who Sentences
Sun, 03/02/2025 - 14:44
As reported in this AP piece, "Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the death sentence of Robin 'Rocky' Myers to life in prison Friday, saying there were enough questions about his guilt that she could not move forward with his execution."...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Death Penalty Reforms
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Fri, 02/28/2025 - 12:38
The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Daniel Loehr now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: Habitual offender laws are widely understood to have emerged from the toughon-crime movement in the late...
Douglas A. Berman
Offender Characteristics
Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing
Thu, 02/27/2025 - 21:21
The Washington Post has this new piece spotlighting praise for Prez Trump's recent announcement that Alice Marie Johnson will serve as his "pardon czar"(see prior posts here and here). Here are excerpts: As a president known for governing on whims...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Thu, 02/27/2025 - 00:47
The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Jacob Schuman now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: In 2023, the Department of Justice published its first-ever report on demographic disparities in revocations of...
Douglas A. Berman
Race, Class, and Gender
Reentry and community supervision
Wed, 02/26/2025 - 21:27
This new Politico piece provides an effective review of a court hearing earlier today concernng the reach and scope of Prez Trump's Jan 6 pardons. I recommend the full piece, and here are excerpts (with links from the original): Three...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Wed, 02/26/2025 - 12:30
The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Isabella Polito and Colleen Berryessa now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: Objective(s): This research examines how the cost of incarceration to the state and...
Douglas A. Berman
Scope of Imprisonment
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Wed, 02/26/2025 - 12:30
The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Isabella Polito and Colleen Berryessa now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: Objective(s): This research examines how the cost of incarceration to the state and...
Douglas A. Berman
Scope of Imprisonment
Sentences Reconsidered
Wed, 02/26/2025 - 11:15
The Supreme Court heard oral argument yesterday in Esteras v. US, No. 23-7483, which is one of a number of federal statutory interpretation criminal cases on the SCOTUS docket this Term. And this one is a sentencing case, with this...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Tue, 02/25/2025 - 22:01
In this post from Friday, titled "Justice Department now asserting in some cases that Prez Trump's Jan 6 pardons covers gun and drug crimes," I noted an NPR report noting court filings from last week in which federal prosecutors asked...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Who Sentences
Tue, 02/25/2025 - 17:11
While there seems to be lots of uncertainty in lots of federal executive agencies these days (including at the federal Bureau of Prisons as noted here and here), the one federal agency located in the judicial branch, the US Sentencing...
Douglas A. Berman
Data on sentencing
Detailed sentencing data
Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Who Sentences
Tue, 02/25/2025 - 12:29
The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Eve Brensike Primus now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: The Supreme Court's haphazard approach to allocating burdens of proof in criminal procedure has created...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Tue, 02/25/2025 - 10:30
Appeals by Oklahoma death row defendant Richard Glossip has now produced two notable opinions from the US Supreme Court. A decade ago as reported here, in a 5-4 ruling in favor of the state in Glossip v. Gross, 576 U.S....
Douglas A. Berman
Death Penalty Reforms
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
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