Sentencing Law & Policy

The Sentencing Project released today this new version of a report titled, “Youth Justice By The Numbers.” The first two sentences of this ten-page report spotlights its main themes: "Between 2000-2022, there was a 75% decline in youth incarceration. However,... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Offender Characteristics Prisons and prisoners Scope of Imprisonment

In this post late last week, I highlighted the encouraging midyear 2024 violent crime data in this lastest report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association. That report shows declines in four major violent crime categories in the first half of... Douglas A. Berman National and State Crime Data

The title of this post is the title of this notable keynote speech delivered this week by Jeremy Travis at the annual conference of the National Criminal Justice Association. I recommend reading the speech in full, as Travis explains in... Douglas A. Berman National and State Crime Data Scope of Imprisonment Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this lengthy new report released today by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Here is part of the report's executive summary: Marsy’s Law is the colloquial name for a model... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing White-collar sentencing Who Sentences

The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) has this notable new analysis of death row exonerations. Here is how the report, which is titled "New Analysis: Innocent Death-Sentenced Prisoners Wait Longer than Ever for Exoneration," gets started: On July 1, after... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms Procedure and Proof at Sentencing

The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Lee Kovarsky now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: A puzzling mismatch lurks inside victims’ rights law. Victims’ rights are most easily justified when held... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Victims' Rights At Sentencing Who Sentences

This new Bloomberg Law piece, headlined "Biden Public Defenders Turned Judges Begin to Make Mark on Bench," details what might be Prez Biden's most significant legacy in his judicial nominations. I recommend the piece in full, and here is its... Douglas A. Berman Who Sentences

The Miami Herald has this notable and lengthy new article about juvenile sentencing headlined "‘Very disturbing’: Florida teens get longer prison sentences than adults." Here are some of the details: Florida is one of 13 states that give prosecutors unfettered... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Detailed sentencing data Offender Characteristics

The title of this post is the title of this relatively short piece just out in the Columbia Law Review Forum and authored by Kempis Songster, Terrell Carter & Rachel López. Here is how it starts: In his compelling new... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms Prisons and prisoners Scope of Imprisonment

This Politico piece, headlined "‘Political violence personified’: Jan. 6 defendant gets 20 years for string of vicious attacks on police," reports on the handing down of the longest sentence given to any person actually involved in the Jan 6 riot.... Douglas A. Berman Celebrity sentencings Offender Characteristics Offense Characteristics

The title of this post is the title of this notable recent empirical paper authored by David Macdonald available via SSRN. (Hat tip to this recent episode of the podcast Probable Causation for highlighting the paper and bringing it to... Douglas A. Berman Offender Characteristics Prisons and prisoners Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Reentry and community supervision

The quetion in the title of this post is prompted by comments made by Donald Trump during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago this past Thursday. Notably, as detailed in this effective Last Prisioner Project discussion, we really do not know... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Drug Offense Sentencing Who Sentences

This Crime and Justice News entry highlights notable violent crime data reported this past week from the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Here are the details: Reports of crimes in four major categories are down in the first half of 2024... Douglas A. Berman National and State Crime Data Offense Characteristics

The title of this post is the title of this new Sentencing Project report authored by Ashley Nellis and Devyn Brown. The short report starts this way: A wave of reforms since 2010 has changed the trajectory of punishment for... Douglas A. Berman Assessing Graham and its aftermath Assessing Miller and its aftermath Data on sentencing Offender Characteristics Scope of Imprisonment

A helpful reader made sure I did not miss the notable panel opinion issued by the Sixth Circuit earlier this week in Jackson v. Cool, No. 21-3207 (6th Cir. Aug. 8, 2024) (available here). The start of the unanimous opinion... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

As noted in this post yesterday, this afternoon the US Sentencing Commission had a scheduled public meeting, and the big official agenda items were "Possible Vote on Final 2024–2025 Policy Priorities" and "Possible Vote on Retroactivity of Certain 2024 Amendments."... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

Thanks to the tip from a helpful commentor, I just saw that an Eighth Circuit panel today issued a significant ruling rejecting, yet again, a federal criminal defendant's claim "that he had a constitutional right under the Second Amendment to... Douglas A. Berman Second Amendment issues

The title of this post is the title of this new book chapter available via SSRN authored by Gregory Antill. Here is its abstract: This article considers how a mens rea regime growing out of principles of corrective or restorative... Douglas A. Berman Offender Characteristics Offense Characteristics Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing

I received an email from the US Sentencing Commission, not long after after its short public meeting today, titled "Embracing the Public’s Ideas to Improve Sentencing, Commission Unanimously Adopts Policy Priorities." And the title of this post captured the emails... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this new Prison Policy Initiative briefing authored by Brian Nam-Sonenstein which carried this subtitle: "Recent research suggests the onset of pretrial detention’s criminal legal system, social, and economic harms is earlier... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners Scope of Imprisonment