As reported in this local article, a "majority on the S.C. Supreme Court has ruled that allowing death row inmates the choice of the electric chair or firing squad to carry out their sentences does not constitute cruel and unusual...
Douglas A. Berman
Baze and Glossip lethal injection cases
Death Penalty Reforms
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
The US Supreme Court in Grants Passlast month turned away claims that the Eighth Amendment precluded charging homeless with crimes from camping/sleeping in certain areas (basics here). There are been an array of legal and political echoes from the ruling,...
Douglas A. Berman
Offender Characteristics
Offense Characteristics
Who Sentences
This new Washington Post piece discusses the long-standing and extreme problem of extreme heat in US prisons and jails. The full headline of this piece highlights its essentials: "For inmates, little escape from brutal heat in prisons without air conditioning:...
Douglas A. Berman
Prisons and prisoners
The title of this post is the title of this new article just published in the journal Theoretical Criminology and authored by Michelle Phelps and Eric Seligman. Here is its abstract: The transformation of US punishment in the late 20th...
Douglas A. Berman
Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing
Reentry and community supervision
The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) recently posted here an interesting analysis of "all 82 grants of clemency to individual death-sentenced prisoners between 1977-2023, excluding mass clemency grants." Here is how D{IC summarizes its findings at the start of the...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Death Penalty Reforms
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
The title of this post is the title of this short document prepared by the Congressional Research Service. The document is notable mostly for its review of marijuana's existing criminal and collateral consequences than for a review of the implication...
Douglas A. Berman
Drug Offense Sentencing
Marijuana Legalization in the States
Offense Characteristics
Pot Prohibition Issues
Who Sentences
I fully understand why the Supreme Court and its Justices get so much attention. But I also know that anyone deeply concerned about federal jurisprudence, especially as it relates to criminal justice administration, must also attend to the work and...
Douglas A. Berman
Who Sentences
The title of this post is the headline of this new Washington Post editorial. Here are excerpts: There’s encouraging news about crime rates in the United States. After a spike in both violent crime and property offenses after the pandemic-and-protest...
Douglas A. Berman
Data on sentencing
National and State Crime Data
About a week ago, a commentor started a comment this way: "Wow. Every single time I look at comments in hopes of more insight into the main subject, all I get is a handful of cheap shots at the political...
Douglas A. Berman
On blogging
The title of this post is the title of this article recently posted to SSRN authored by Utsav Bahl, Chad M. Topaz and others. Here is its abstract: Judicial and carceral systems increasingly use criminal risk assessment algorithms to make...
Douglas A. Berman
Offender Characteristics
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Race, Class, and Gender
State Sentencing Guidelines
Technocorrections
Who Sentences
As detailed in this official announcement, two weeks from today is the scheduled date for a big official public meeting for the US Sentencing Commission to take big votes on two sets of important issues. Here is the full announcement:...
Douglas A. Berman
Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Who Sentences
A helpful reader alerted me to a new panel ruling from the Third Circuit in Baker v. US, No. 23-2059 (3d Cir. July 25, 2024) (available here). The start of the extended opinion highlights why it seems to me notable:...
Douglas A. Berman
Mandatory minimum sentencing statutes
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Jane Mitchell now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: In today's polarized political climate, criminal justice reform remains one of the few issues that spans...
Douglas A. Berman
Criminal Sentences Alternatives
Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing
The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) today released its latest accoutning of recent crime trends through this new report titled "Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Mid-Year 2024 Update." Here are the encouraging essentials from the the report's "Overview": This study...
Douglas A. Berman
National and State Crime Data
Offense Characteristics
Stateline has this new piece on the growing interest at the state level of second-look sentencing reviews. The piece is worth a full read, though its themes are summarized in the full headline: "Efforts to release prisoners from long sentences...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
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