Sentencing Law & Policy

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

The question in the title of this post is prompted by remarkable federal criminal justice developments in the District of New Jersey. This New York Times piece, headlined "N.J. Criminal Cases Screech to a Halt as Habba’s Authority Is Challenged,"... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Michael Tonry now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: Three things foster European moderation in relation to crime and punishment. The first is the influence... Douglas A. Berman Sentencing around the world

I recall a number of public health researchers and others expressing concern back in summer 2022, right after the Supreme Court's landmark Second Amendment ruling in Bruen, that new changes and challenges to gun control laws could possibly contribute to... Douglas A. Berman Second Amendment issues Who Sentences

In this post last month, I flagged two essays from the Sentencing Matters Substack discussing the Supreme Court's work this past Term in Esteras v. United States addressing federal supervised release decision-making. I am pleased now to continue to highlight... Douglas A. Berman FIRST STEP Act and its implementation Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

There is no shortage of stories about immigration detention faciltiies these days, but that coverage has not entirely crowded out other prison pieces in recent weeks. Here is a quick round up of some that recently caught my eye: From... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners

The title of this post is the title of this article authored by Rhys Hester in the June 2025 issue of the Criminal Law Forum. (As noted in this prior post, this journal issue is devoted to celebrating the work... Douglas A. Berman Advisory Sentencing Guidelines Federal Sentencing Guidelines Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Who Sentences

As reported in this post, the US Sentencing Commission released in early June this Federal Register notice of its possible policy priorities for the guideline amendment cycle ending May 1, 2026, which came with a request for public comment on... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Who Sentences

I noted in this post last week that the new Direcotr of the federal Bureau of Prisons has created a new First Step Act Task Force. This new Forbes article by Walter Palvo, headlined "Bureau Of Prisons Task Force Taking... Douglas A. Berman FIRST STEP Act and its implementation Prisons and prisoners Who Sentences

This morning the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics released this latest report on national data on the administration of the death penalty in the United States through the end of 2023. As I have noted in prior posts, though... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Death Penalty Reforms Detailed sentencing data

The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) today released its latest accoutning of recent crime trends through this new report titled "Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Mid-Year 2025 Update." Here are some of the encouraging details from the the report's "Key... Douglas A. Berman National and State Crime Data

The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Spencer Cooper now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: I estimate the causal effect of mandatory minimum (MM) eligibility on federal drug sentencing using a... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Mandatory minimum sentencing statutes

The title of this post is the title of this new article published in the American Journal of Criminal Justice and authored by Tracy Sohoni, Sylwia Piatkowska and Briana Paige. Here is its abstract: Although US courts regularly sentence individuals... Douglas A. Berman Offender Characteristics Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Race, Class, and Gender

Anyone keeping an eye on crime trends will want to be sure to read these two new Substack posts: From Jeff-alytics, "Assessing Crime At Midyear: The trends aren't set in stone but they are clearly established." Excerpts: Crime almost certainly... Douglas A. Berman National and State Crime Data

The Justcie Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics today released this new data report titled "Probation and Parole in the United States, 2023." Here is how this report begins and a few "highlights" noted onits first page: An estimated 3,772,000 adults... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Detailed sentencing data Reentry and community supervision

I am not sure I would describe criminal justice articles from Law360 as "beach reading," but I am sure that I have noticed a number of notable pieces on that site should not be overlooked amid summer fun. So here... Douglas A. Berman Recommended reading

Via this inauguration executive order, Prez Trump called the death penalty the "only proper punishment for the vilest crimes" and asserted that his "Administration will not tolerate efforts to stymie and eviscerate the laws that authorize capital punishment against those... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms Offense Characteristics Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences