Sentencing Law & Policy

For whatever reason, I am noticing a number of notable recent sentencing stories involving pets and aninals. A couple of weeks ago, I blogged here about notable federal sentences given to criminal cat kickers, and a few days ago I... Douglas A. Berman Offense Characteristics Scope of Imprisonment

The title of this post is the title of this new essay authored by Sam Merchant now available via SSRN (and forthcoming in the Federal Sentencing Reporter). Here is its abstract: This Essay explores the traditional view that judges exercise... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this new essay authored by Sam Merchant now available via SSRN (and forthcoming in the Federal Sentencing Reporter). Here is its abstract: This Essay explores the traditional view that judges exercise... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this new essay authored by Sam Merchant now available via SSRN (and forthcoming in the Federal Sentencing Reporter). Here is its abstract: This Essay explores the traditional view that judges exercise... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

Adam Liptak's latest Sidebar column in the New York Times, headlined "Supreme Court’s Gun Rulings Leave Baffled Judges Asking for Help," is focused on the mess that is Second Amendment jurisprudence. I recommend the piece in full, and here are... Douglas A. Berman Gun policy and sentencing Second Amendment issues Who Sentences

The FBI this morning here released this summary accounting of violent crime in the United States in 2023: The FBI’s crime statistics estimates, based on reported data for 2023, show that national violent crime decreased an estimated 3.0% in 2023... Douglas A. Berman National and State Crime Data Offense Characteristics

As noted here a few months ago, this summer I helped create a Substack place and space for sentencing discussions titled Sentencing Matters Substack. It dawned on me recently that I have not been regularly flagging all the interesting original... Douglas A. Berman Recommended reading

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged here about notable federal sentences cgiven to criminal cat kickers. Today, I say a notable state sentencing sentences in response criminal dog behavior, though in this case it involves fatal results for both... Douglas A. Berman Offense Characteristics

The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Laura Rovner now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: The harms of solitary confinement have been well-documented for centuries, yet the practice persists. Despite recent... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered

As reported in this AP piece, "South Carolina put inmate Freddie Owens to death Friday as the state restarted executions after an unintended 13-year pause because prison officials couldn’t get the drugs needed for lethal injections." Here is more: Owens... Douglas A. Berman Baze and Glossip lethal injection cases Death Penalty Reforms

The Fifth Circuit earlier this week added still more nuances to Second Amendment, felon-in-possession jurisprudence through a panel opinion in US v. Diaz, No. 23-50452 (5th Cir. Sept. 18, 2024) (available here). As noted in posts linked below, since the... Douglas A. Berman Offender Characteristics Offense Characteristics Second Amendment issues Who Sentences

Most modern discussions of what is often called "second-look" sentencing typically focus on the opportunities and processes for judges to reconsider on various grounds the duration of the prison sentences they previously imposed. But there is, of course, a kind... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

Over the first eight months of 2024, the United States has averaged less than two executions per month. And two executions per month has been, very roughly, the average pace of executions in the US for the past decade. For... Douglas A. Berman Baze and Glossip lethal injection cases Death Penalty Reforms Who Sentences

I am very pleased to be able to promote this updated resource page, "Drugs on the Ballot," authored by the great staff at the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center (DEPC) at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. The... Douglas A. Berman Drug Offense Sentencing Marijuana Legalization in the States Pot Prohibition Issues Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this new paper available via SSRN authored by Jacob Harris. Here is its abstract: How does the severity of incarceration-not just its occurrence-affect formal political participation? I address this question with... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners

In this recent post, I flagged the upcoming sentencing of Caroline Ellison as an interesting high-profile case in which the federal sentencing guidelines call for an LWOP sentence, but the presentencing report recommended only "time served with three years of... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing White-collar sentencing

The US Sentencing Commission today released this notable new research report titled "Cyber Technology in Federal Crime." This latest report is introduced on this USSC webpage, which also sets forth "Key Findings" along with some interesting graphics. Here is the... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Offender Characteristics Offense Characteristics

The quoted portion of the title of this post is the headline of this New York Times commentary authored by Rachel Barkow and Mark Osler. I recommend the piece in full, and here are excerpts: End-of-term clemency chaos has become... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this intriguing new article from multiple authors just published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Here is its abstract: This study examined the association of county-level jail and state-level... Douglas A. Berman Scope of Imprisonment

I have a whole bunch of tabs open on my desktop with whole bunch of notable pieces that have caught my eye recently. That means it is time for a round up, so here goes: From ABC News, "Texas lawmakers... Douglas A. Berman Recommended reading