Sentencing Law & Policy

The title of this post is the title of this new essay authored by Carissa Byrne Hessick now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: Juries have long been considered a key common law institution, yet their use has become... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentencing around the world

Most of the case dispositions on this morning's Supreme Court's order list are cert denials, though there are a couple of items of interest for sentencing and criminal justice fans. First, the Supreme Court issued another Sixth Amendment GVR based... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

As detailed in this prior post, the US Sentencing Commission last month voted unanimously to "Publish Proposed Guideline Amendments and Issues for Comment" on the topics of guideline simplification, criminal hisotry, firearm offenses, circuit conflicts and retroactivity. Though that was... Douglas A. Berman Drug Offense Sentencing Federal Sentencing Guidelines Reentry and community supervision Who Sentences

January is always an exciting sports month, especially for football fans. After a wonderful college football playoff can to a terrific end earlier this week, I am now especially looking forward to the NFL games this weekend that will deterine... Douglas A. Berman Booker in district courts Celebrity sentencings Federal Sentencing Guidelines Offender Characteristics Offense Characteristics

Another day, another set of notable pardond from Prez Donald Trump. As reported in this Hill piece, "President Trump issued pardons Thursday for nearly two dozen anti-abortion activists who had been convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances." Here is more:... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) today released its latest accoutning of modern crime trends through this new report titled "Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Year-End 2024 Update." Here are the ecouragnig "Key Takeaways" from the stated to this new... Douglas A. Berman National and State Crime Data

The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper authored by Jacob Bronsther now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: This Article attempts to unite the movements against the death penalty and mass incarceration. The... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Scope of Imprisonment

Prez Trump is not yet tired of using his clemency pen, as this new New York Times piece reports: "President Trump on Wednesday issued full and unconditional pardons to two Washington, D.C., police officers convicted after a chase that killed... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

When speaking to a libertarian group in May of last year, as noted in this post and reported in this Fox News piece, Donald Trump "vowed to commute the prison sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the online drug-selling... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Drug Offense Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

Reported today in Politico and the Washington Post and other outlets is this notable new memo (dated January 21, 2025) from the Department of Justice titled "Interim Policy Changes Regarding Charging, Sentencing, And Immigration Enforcement." The press pieces highlight the... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

The first "opinion" of the current Supreme Court Term was handed down as a curious little per curiam ruling in Hamm v. Smith after a recond number of relists. As dicussed in this post from early November 2024, the Court... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

At the local level, sheriffs ofer have responsibilities for jails. At the national level, the President has ultimate reponsibility for federal prisons. And, with a new President, we get some new prison developments as reported in these two new pieces:... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Prisons and prisoners Who Sentences

As well summarized in this AP article, "President Donald Trump signed a sweeping execution order Monday on the death penalty." Here is more: Trump’s order, coming just hours after he returned to the White House, compels the Justice Department to... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Death Penalty Reforms Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

Prez Trump, only hours after returning to the presidency, made robust use of his clemency powers by granting commutations and pardons for via this order titled "GRANTING PARDONS AND COMMUTATION OF SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES RELATING TO THE EVENTS AT... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

In this post four years ago as Prez Biden took over from Prez Trump, I noted that, on the the first full day of the new Biden Administration (January 21, 2021), the federal Bureau of Prisons then reported "Total Federal... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Biden Administration Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Prisons and prisoners Scope of Imprisonment

Given his many notable clemency actions before his last day in office, I had a feeling out-going Prez Joe Biden was going to keep using his clemency pen up to the very last monment. These various stories about various grants... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Criminal justice in the Biden Administration Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

I have been on the road for most of January, leading me to see a lot of intriguing press pieces from a variety of sources that I have not had time to flag on the blog. (Also, all sorts of... Douglas A. Berman Recommended reading

As reported in this New York Times piece, "President Biden pardoned five activists and public servants on Sunday, including a posthumous grant of clemency to the civil rights leader Marcus Garvey, who mobilized the Black nationalist movement and was convicted... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The title of this post is the headline of this interesting new piece at The Intercept by Liliana Segura. I recommend the piece in full, and here are excerpts: In the days after President Joe Biden commuted his death sentence,... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Death Penalty Reforms Prisons and prisoners

As first mentioned in this post a few weeks ago, the editors of the Federal Sentencing Reporter are seeking articles for a new FSR issue on “A Justice System Crossroads: Reflecting on Biden’s Record and Projecting a Second Trump Term.”... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Biden Administration Criminal justice in the Trump Administration