Sentencing Law & Policy

A helpful colleague flagged for me a notable new federal district court sentence reduction opinion, US v. Cannon, No. 4:95-cr-30 (CDL), 2025 WL 326065 (MD Ga. Jan. 29, 2025). I recommend the opinion in full (though I have not found... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines FIRST STEP Act and its implementation Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

As detailed in links below, this past Fall I noticed and blogged about a numbers of notable federal and state sentencings for various defendants convicted of various crimes involving animals. I was reminded of this series after seeing this local... Douglas A. Berman Examples of "over-punishment" Offense Characteristics

The question in the title of this post is prompted in part by a notable opinion from last week authored by US District Judge Gary Brown in US v. Andrews, 20-CR-546 (SDNY Jan. 28, 2025) (available here). Here is a... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Paul Robinson and Hugh Rennie now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: News accounts routinely report the sentences imposed by judges and there are commonly... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Scope of Imprisonment

A helpful reader flagged an interesting concurring opinion in a case from Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeals which showcases a potental state echo from the Supreme Court's recent Sixth Amendment ruling in US v. Erlinger. At issue is application... Douglas A. Berman Almendarez-Torres and the prior conviction exception Blakely in the States Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

As reported in this AP piece, "South Carolina put a third inmate to death in four months Friday as it goes through a backlog of prisoners who exhausted their appeals while the state couldn’t find lethal injection drugs." Here is... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms

Yesterday, the Brennan Center for Justice published this new 10-page report titled "A Federal Agenda to Promote Safety and Justice." The report, authored by Hernandez Stroud and Rosemary Nidiry, is crafted with the Trump administration and the current Congress in... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Prisons and prisoners Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper by Ian Ayres and Fredrick E. Vars now on SSRN that includes an interesting sentencing-specific proposal. Here is the paper's abstract: Lower federal courts are struggling to... Douglas A. Berman Offender Characteristics Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Second Amendment issues Who Sentences

The always notable Vital City has a notable and robust new special online issue titled "Crime: Looking Back at 2024, and Ahead to 2025." I count 15 pieces in the issue which all look interesting. This introductory essay provides an... Douglas A. Berman National and State Crime Data

As reported in this CNN piece, "[f]ormer New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges after taking cash, a Mercedes Benz and gold bars as bribes... Douglas A. Berman Celebrity sentencings White-collar sentencing

In this post from September, I noted Adam Liptak's Sidebar column discussing federal compassionate release issues in conjunction with Judge Frederic Block's new book, "A Second Chance: A Federal Judge Decides Who Deserves It." I was pleased to see today... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

Law360 recently published this review of the last president's criminal justice record authored by Marco Poggio under the headline "Biden Leaves Mixed Legacy On Criminal Justice Issues." The extended piece is effective, though necessarily summary, and it starts this way:... Douglas A. Berman Criminal justice in the Biden Administration Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Thomas Cohen available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: In the U.S. federal system, courts have the discretion to grant early termination of supervision for people... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Detailed sentencing data Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Reentry and community supervision

Brian Nam-Sonenstein and Nell Haney have authored this new Prison Policy Initiative report titled "Bad Behavior: How prison disciplinary policies manufacture misconduct." The subheading of the report highlights its coverage and themes: Prison disciplinary systems are supposed to provide safety,... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

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