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Mon, 05/05/2025 - 10:59
In this Truth Social post last night, Prez Donald Trump stated: "I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most...
Douglas A. Berman
Criminal justice in the Trump Administration
Prisons and prisoners
Sun, 05/04/2025 - 17:16
Timothy Head has this new commentary under the headline "Trump’s First Step Act Was a Monumental Success. His New Administration Has a Chance to Build On It." I recommend the full piece, and here are excerpts (with links from the...
Douglas A. Berman
Criminal justice in the Trump Administration
Prisons and prisoners
Reentry and community supervision
Who Sentences
Sun, 05/04/2025 - 14:41
As detailed in this post a few weeks ago, the US Sentencing Commission voted to submit to Congress a set of notable new amendments to the US sentencing guidelines, policy statements, and commentary. Last week, the Commission formally posted here...
Douglas A. Berman
Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Who Sentences
Sun, 05/04/2025 - 10:19
Regular readers know I am a huge fan of the US Sentencing Commission's "Quick Facts" publications, which "give readers basic facts about a single area of federal crime in an easy-to-read, two-page format." The Commission typically updates these great short...
Douglas A. Berman
Data on sentencing
Detailed sentencing data
Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Prisons and prisoners
Sat, 05/03/2025 - 09:49
The title of this post is the title of this new essay authored by Kevin Reitz now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: This essay explores Michael Tonry's treatment of sentencing law and policy within the U.S. as an...
Douglas A. Berman
State Sentencing Guidelines
Who Sentences
Fri, 05/02/2025 - 14:34
I have flagged in recent posts here and here and here that persons convicted of various white-collar offenses are now those most likely to be getting the benefit of Prez Trump's clemency pen. And via this new Washington Post piece,...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Fines, Restitution and Other Economic Sanctions
Sentences Reconsidered
White-collar sentencing
Fri, 05/02/2025 - 08:27
As reported in this AP piece, an "Army combat veteran whose Gulf War experience triggered severe mental problems was executed Thursday evening in Florida for the 1998 shotgun slayings of his girlfriend and her three young children." Here is more:...
Douglas A. Berman
Data on sentencing
Death Penalty Reforms
Thu, 05/01/2025 - 14:24
In this post a couple of weeks ago, I spotlighted some encouraging homicide data from a number of big cities. But I got access to this data only via a patchwork of (inconsistent) city-level police reports. Helping the crime data...
Douglas A. Berman
National and State Crime Data
Thu, 05/01/2025 - 11:09
The Death Penalty Information Center yesterday released this big new report about capital sentencing and execution trends for young people over the last two decades, with a particular attention focused on those aged 18 to 20. (An overview of the...
Douglas A. Berman
Data on sentencing
Death Penalty Reforms
Detailed sentencing data
Offender Characteristics
Race, Class, and Gender
Wed, 04/30/2025 - 16:57
As detailed in this press release, earlier this month the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights releases this new report, "Enforcing Religious Freedom in Prisons," which serves as an update to the Commission’s 2008 report of the same name. As explained...
Douglas A. Berman
Prisons and prisoners
Wed, 04/30/2025 - 11:01
In this post yesterday, I noted that I had not been able to find analyses looking closely at all of the Trump Administration's actions in the criminal justice enforcement and sentencing space over its first 100 days, and I suggested...
Douglas A. Berman
Criminal justice in the Trump Administration
Who Sentences
Wed, 04/30/2025 - 08:21
The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by multiple folks at Yale Law School and now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: In the federal system, judges have authority to sentence individuals to...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Reentry and community supervision
Tue, 04/29/2025 - 15:08
I have not been able to find today any new press pieces or other analyses looking closely at what the Trump Administration has done with respect to traditionally criminal justice enforcement and sentencing over its first 100 days. (Excitingly, the...
Douglas A. Berman
Criminal justice in the Biden Administration
Criminal justice in the Obama Administration
Criminal justice in the Trump Administration
Prisons and prisoners
Tue, 04/29/2025 - 13:34
The title of this post is the title of this new article now available via SSRN authored by Eric Fish and Chesa Boudin. Here is its abstract: Debates over the separation of powers in criminal law ignore defense lawyers. Prosecutors,...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Who Sentences
Mon, 04/28/2025 - 20:19
A number of articles and commentaries which have caught my eye recently got me to thinking it would be a good time for a little round-up. So here goes: From Cato at Liberty, "Orwellian Justice: The Trial Penalty Under Fire"...
Douglas A. Berman
Death Penalty Reforms
Prisons and prisoners
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Recommended reading
Mon, 04/28/2025 - 13:53
A kind reader made sure I did not miss a notable recent federal opinion authored by US District Judge Joseph Goodwin US v. Shields, No. 2:21-cr-00268 (SD WVa April 24, 2025) (available for download below). The 13-page opinion is a...
Douglas A. Berman
Booker and Fanfan Commentary
Booker in the Circuits
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Mon, 04/28/2025 - 09:53
The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Josiah Rutledge now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: In modern criminal prosecutions, the determination of guilt is often little more than a formality. It...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sun, 04/27/2025 - 12:43
I just saw a remarkable ruling handed down last week by a unanimous Eleventh Circuit panel in Henry v. Sheriff of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, No. 24-10139 (11th Cir. April 23, 2025) (available here). The full 111-page opinion gets started this way:...
Douglas A. Berman
Collateral consequences
Criminal Sentences Alternatives
Reentry and community supervision
Sentences Reconsidered
Sex Offender Sentencing
Sun, 04/27/2025 - 10:58
The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Alessandro Corda and just published in the journal Criminal Law Forum. Here is its abstract: The legitimacy of state punishment has long been debated to justify...
Douglas A. Berman
Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing
Fri, 04/25/2025 - 13:52
As reported in this AP article, an "Alabama man who dropped his appeals and said he deserved to die for a 2010 rape and murder was executed Thursday evening, using his final words to apologize to the woman he killed."...
Douglas A. Berman
Death Penalty Reforms
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Who Sentences
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