Sentencing Law & Policy

The question in the title of this post defies any quick analyses, especially since there may be a number of different stories to unpack related to death penaly law (both constitutional and statuory) and death penalty administration (prosecutions, sentences and... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Death Penalty Reforms Who Sentences

Walter Pavlo has this notable new piece at Forbes headlined simply "The Bureau Of Prisons Under A Trump Administration." I would recommend the piece in full, and here are highlights: President Donald Trump handily won the election and will be... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Prisons and prisoners

This AP article reports that a "military judge has ruled that plea agreements struck by alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants are valid, voiding an order by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to throw out the deals,... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

Throughout his succesful campaign for a return to the Oval Office, Donald Trump spoke repeatedly about pardoning persons federally prosecuted for their behaviors at the Capital on January 6, 2021. With Trump now Preident-Elect, those promises are already leading to... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Offense Characteristics Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

Various media outlets today are reporting, as articulated in the headline of this article in The Hill, that "Trump’s victory likely means curtains for criminal prosecutions." For three of Prez-Elect Trump's four on-going criminal prosecutions, that basic analysis seems largely... Douglas A. Berman Celebrity sentencings Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

In a number of prior posts, I expressed disappointment that now-Prez-Elect Donald Trump did not provide while on the campaign trial a Supreme Court short list as he had in both 2016 and 2020. But, helpfully, this morning Law360 has... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Who Sentences

I flagged in this postyesterday some of my pre-election coverage of some state initialtives on sentencing issues and drug policy reform. And now, with results mostly tabulated, the votes in higher-profiles issues on the ballot on Election Day 2024 seem... Douglas A. Berman Campaign 2024 and sentencing issues Drug Offense Sentencing Elections and sentencing issues in political debates Who Sentences

I had the honor and privilege of casting my ballot a few days ago, and I always get a real thrill out of exercising the franchise. Living in the greatest democracy in world history makes me so pleased and proud... Douglas A. Berman Campaign 2024 and sentencing issues Elections and sentencing issues in political debates Who Sentences

The eve of Election Day 2024 seems like a good time to flag an online event on the presidential clemency power being hosted on December 10 by the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center (DEPC) at The Ohio State University Moritz... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The Supreme Court is back in action this week, and this morning it released this notable new order list. The start and end of the list will be of greatest interest for criminal justice fans. At the start, we get... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms Offender Characteristics Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Second Amendment issues Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

I noted in this recent post that a Sixth Circuit panel heard oral argument this past week to consider its precedent limiting grounds for compassionate release in light of last year's USSC guideline amendment allowing some "changes in the law"... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines FIRST STEP Act and its implementation Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The AP has this notable lengthy new piece on prison rape headlined "Prison work assignments used to lure and rape female inmates. Guards sometimes walk free." The long piece is woth the time to read in full. Here are snippets:... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners Sex Offender Sentencing

Though I have made this old reference many times before, November 1 still gets me thinking of this silly scene from "The Jerk" in which which Steve Martin's character is so excited about the new phonebook, which he says means... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this new paper now available via SSRN authored by Trung Nguyen, Aneesh Raghunandan and Alexandra Scherf. Here is its abstract: We study whether federal judges' personal exposure to financial fraud affects... Douglas A. Berman White-collar sentencing Who Sentences

The Vera Institute of Justice continues to do a remarkable service for those interested in (near) real-time data about US prison and jail populations by assembling and releasing national incarceration data roughly a year before the federal Bureau of Justice... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Prisons and prisoners Scope of Imprisonment

The Sacremento Bee has this lengthy new piece, headlined "Justice or politics? Here’s why California prosecutors seek death penalty despite moratorium," providing all sorts of notable history and particulars about the administration of capital punishment in the Golden State. I... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Death Penalty Reforms

As reported in this CNBC article, "[f]ormer FTX executive Nishad Singh was sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release on Wednesday, becoming the fourth ex-employee of the collapsed crypto exchange to be punished. Singh was also ordered... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing White-collar sentencing

Bloomberg Law has this new article, headlined "Sentencing Commission Policy Power Faces Unusual Test on Appeal," previewing a notable oral argument in the Sixth Circuit scheduled this week to consider the US Ssentencing Guideline provision that permits some "changes in... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines FIRST STEP Act and its implementation Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

In this post a month ago, I asked "Is former Prez Trump going to release a new short list of possible Supreme Court nominees?". In that post, I noted that Trump's clever and consequential decision in May 2016 to release... Douglas A. Berman Campaign 2024 and sentencing issues Who Sentences

The Council on Criminal Justice today released this big new report from its Veterans Justice Commission titled "From Confinement to Community: Supporting Successful Veteran Reentry and Employment." This CCJ press releae about the report provide some context and overview: The... Douglas A. Berman Offender Characteristics Reentry and community supervision