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The title of this post is the title of this new article recently published in The British Journal of Criminology authored by Veronica Horowitz, Synøve Andersen and Jordan Hyatt. Here is its abstract: As the COVID-19 pandemic upended life worldwide,... Douglas A. Berman Impact of the coronavirus on criminal justice Prisons and prisoners

The Sentencing Project today released this updated six-page fact sheet titled "Incarcerated Women and Girls." The document has lots of data and graphics providing details of how and why "female incarcerated population stands almost seven times higher than in 1980."... Douglas A. Berman Data on sentencing Prisons and prisoners Race, Class, and Gender Scope of Imprisonment

As noted in this post last month, the US Sentencing Commission recently released a "Federal Register Notice of Proposed 2024-2025 Priorities" which suggested that the USSC was eager in this coming guideline-amendment year to take a "big-picture" look at the... Douglas A. Berman Federal Sentencing Guidelines Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper authored by James Liebman and Anthony Amsterdam. Here is its abstract: Chevron deference is dead. The Court's forty-year, seventy-decision experiment with Article-III-court deference to "reasonable" agency interpretations... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The New York Times has this new extended article providing a lot of context (but not a lot of legal details) for the ballot measure coming before California voters to revise significantly a criminal justice reform proposition from a decade... Douglas A. Berman Elections and sentencing issues in political debates Offense Characteristics Who Sentences

The title of this post was the heading of an email I received this morning from the US Sentencing Commission, which came with this text and links: The U.S. Sentencing Commission has released its second of two interactive resources providing... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners Who Sentences

Because I am going to be on the road for much of the next few weeks, I am not sure about how much blogging time I will have. But I am sure I am hoping to catch up on some... Douglas A. Berman Recommended reading

There are, of course, so many political and policy elements to President Joe Biden's decision to end him campaign for re-election or, as he put it, "to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

A couple of busy weeks has meant I have not had time to flag some newsworthy and noteworthy sentencing and prison stories. So, making up for lost time, here is a small (and incomplete) round up of some stories catching... Douglas A. Berman Recommended reading

The day after Joe Biden was inaugurated, I authored this post posing this question in the title: "Anyone bold enough to make predictions about the federal prison population — which is now at 151,646 according to BOP?". That post highlighted... Douglas A. Berman Campaign 2024 and sentencing issues Criminal justice in the Biden Administration Criminal justice in the Obama Administration Criminal justice in the Trump Administration Who Sentences

As discussed in this post, a couple months ago, a split Ninth Circuit panel handed down a major Second Amendment ruling in US v. Duarte, No. 22-50048 (9th Cir. May 9, 2024) (available here), finding that the Supreme Court's Bruen... Douglas A. Berman Collateral consequences Offender Characteristics Offense Characteristics Second Amendment issues Who Sentences

As detailed in this AP article, a "man convicted of fatally shooting a delivery driver during a robbery attempt in 1998 was executed Thursday evening in Alabama. Keith Edmund Gavin was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m. CDT following a chemical... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms

As noted in this prior post, last year a split Fifth Circuit panel ruled in Hopkins v. Hosemann,, No. 19-60662 (5th Cir. Aug. 4, 2023) (available here), that Mississippi's disenfranchisement for life of persons with certain felony convictions "is unconstitutional... Douglas A. Berman Collateral consequences Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this recent article by Michael O'Hear posted a couple months ago to SSRN. Here is its abstract: The Eighth Amendment prohibits “excessive fines,” but what exactly does “excessive” mean? The question... Douglas A. Berman Fines, Restitution and Other Economic Sanctions Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

This new piece from Courthouse New Service provides a detail account of how the Supreme Court's recent Fischer ruling is impacting some January 6 riot prosecutions. The full headline provides the essentials: "DOJ begins dropping Capitol riot obstruction charges following... Douglas A. Berman Offense Characteristics Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered