Sentencing Law & Policy

The title of this post is the title of this new white paper, authored by Erik Luna and Weldon Angelos, that is now avaialble via SSRN. This paper was produced by the Academy for Justice at Sandra Day O'Connor College... Douglas A. Berman Drug Offense Sentencing Marijuana Legalization in the States Pot Prohibition Issues Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

As I noted in this post last week after a recent flurry of grants, Prez Trump has followed up historic clemency activity during his first few days in office by continuing to exercise his broad executive authority to grant pardons... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

As reported in this AP piece, "U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that she has directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, following through on the president’s campaign... Douglas A. Berman Celebrity sentencings Death Penalty Reforms Who Sentences

I tend not to be a big fan of celebrations of April Fools' Day (I often get to feel plenty foolish all year long), but the fokls at the Prison Policy Initiative have a holiday-themed entry that seemed worthy of... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners

The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Kevin Morrow and now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: The final decision on the imposition of the death penalty in the United States is... Douglas A. Berman Death Penalty Reforms Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

The Supreme Court issued this relative short order list this morning which concluded with an interesting dissent from the denial of certiorari authored by Justice Sotomayor and joined by Justice Jackson. Here is how the six-page dissent gets started and... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this notable new article from multiple authors just published in the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology. Here is its abstract: Criminal legal systems around the world rely heavily on defendants foregoing... Douglas A. Berman Procedure and Proof at Sentencing Who Sentences

The title of this post is the headline of this new Washington Post article. I recommend the full piece, and here are excerpts: Standing in front of a crowd outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 6 defendant Brian Mock... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Prisons and prisoners Who Sentences

Prez Trump made historic use of his clemency powers during his first few days in office this year, and he clearly continues to enjoy to exercising his broad executive authority to grant pardons and commutations. Consider all this federal clemency... Douglas A. Berman Clemency and Pardons Sentences Reconsidered White-collar sentencing Who Sentences

The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Benjamin Levin now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: In this Article, I argue that the U.S. criminal system and debates about criminal justice reform... Douglas A. Berman Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing

The title of this post is the title of this forthcoming book chapter authored by Isabella Polito and Colleen M. Berryessa. Here is its abstract: High rates of recidivism in the age of mass incarceration have prompted efforts for more... Douglas A. Berman Prisons and prisoners Purposes of Punishment and Sentencing Sentences Reconsidered

I am going to be off-line more than usual in the coming days, and so a round-up of some piece catching my eye that I won't have time to cover in distinct posts seems in order. And so: From Bolts,... Douglas A. Berman Recommended reading