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Thu, 05/29/2025 - 11:20
I flagged a few weeks ago, after noting my own 2025 posts (here and here) detailing big city homicide data showing the remarkable decline in murders apparently unfolding in many large urban areas, that I had see relatively little general...
Douglas A. Berman
National and State Crime Data
Thu, 05/29/2025 - 08:29
Walter Pavlo has this notable new Forbes piece headlined "Federal Bureau Of Prisons To Expand Home Confinement." Here is how it begins: The First Step Act is a significant piece of criminal justice reform legislation signed into law by Donald...
Douglas A. Berman
Criminal justice in the Trump Administration
FIRST STEP Act and its implementation
Prisons and prisoners
Wed, 05/28/2025 - 22:24
As reported in this CNN piece, "President Donald Trump used his pardon power to grant clemency to a wave of individuals this week who had been convicted of crimes that range from public corruption, guns and even maritime-related offenses, according...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Wed, 05/28/2025 - 11:44
Over the last few weeks, I have been very much enjoying a multi-part series of posts by Charles Fain Lehman at his Causal Fallacy Substack under the heading "What Was the War on Drugs?". Though the topic of the drug...
Douglas A. Berman
Drug Offense Sentencing
Recommended reading
Wed, 05/28/2025 - 10:15
The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by T. Markus Funk and available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: Determining an offender’s criminal culpability is an evergreen challenge. It demands a careful blending of...
Douglas A. Berman
Offender Characteristics
Offense Characteristics
Victims' Rights At Sentencing
Tue, 05/27/2025 - 23:10
I have flagged in prior posts (examples here and here and here) that persons convicted of various white-collar offenses are those now most likely to be getting the benefit of Prez Trump's clemency pen. The last few days have demonstrated...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Sentences Reconsidered
White-collar sentencing
Who Sentences
Tue, 05/27/2025 - 17:27
In a couple of posts last month (linked below), I highlighted that the deals Prez Trump cut with multiple BigLaw firms provided for hundreds of million of dollars in pro bono legal services to be devoted, at least in part,...
Douglas A. Berman
Offender Characteristics
Prisons and prisoners
Who Sentences
Tue, 05/27/2025 - 09:40
As regular readers know, I have been keeping a close eye on cases that have been dividing the lower federal courts regarding the US Sentencing Commission's 2023 policy statement providing that some limited "changes in the law" in certain cases...
Douglas A. Berman
FIRST STEP Act and its implementation
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Mon, 05/26/2025 - 21:14
As reportedin this local press piece, Florida "officials plan to begin proceedings to prosecute and seek the death penalty against two men whose federal death sentences for the 2006 drug-related slayings of a family on Florida’s Turnpike in St. Lucie...
Douglas A. Berman
Death Penalty Reforms
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Mon, 05/26/2025 - 09:14
A few folks have flagged for me this recent CalMatters piece headlined "California released 15,000 prisoners early during COVID. New data reveals what happened to many of them." The interesting piece details some notable original data collection on prisoners released...
Douglas A. Berman
Data on sentencing
Impact of the coronavirus on criminal justice
Prisons and prisoners
Reentry and community supervision
Sat, 05/24/2025 - 08:51
Earlier this month, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released this new report titled "Homicide Victimization in the United States, 2023." This full report runs 23 pages, and it is full of all sorts of notable data about homicides. Here is...
Douglas A. Berman
National and State Crime Data
Offense Characteristics
Fri, 05/23/2025 - 11:50
The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by William Berry III available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: A number of state appellate courts read any sentencing decisions by lower courts that are “within...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Thu, 05/22/2025 - 14:27
As reported in this local article, "Tennessee has executed Oscar Franklin Smith, sentenced to death for the 1989 killings of his estranged wife Judith Robirds Smith and her two teenage sons, Chad Burnett and Jason Burnett, in Nashville." Here is...
Douglas A. Berman
Baze and Glossip lethal injection cases
Death Penalty Reforms
Thu, 05/22/2025 - 10:20
The Supreme Court handed down a unanimous opinion (with three interesting concurrences) this morning in Kousisis v. US, No. 23–909 (S. Ct. May 22, 2025) (available here). Here is the accounting of the votes and opinon writing: BARRETT, J., delivered...
Douglas A. Berman
Offense Characteristics
White-collar sentencing
Thu, 05/22/2025 - 09:32
Earlier this week, the US Sentencing Commission released a few more of its terrific "Quick Facts" publications. As regular readers know, I find so very interesting all the these short data documents, which are designed to "give readers basic facts...
Douglas A. Berman
Data on sentencing
Detailed sentencing data
Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Gun policy and sentencing
Offense Characteristics
Second Amendment issues
Wed, 05/21/2025 - 22:10
The title of this post is the title of this essay authored by Chad Flanders that I just saw on SSRN. Here is its abstract: Pardons and commutations are in theory compatible with the rule of law, if we see...
Douglas A. Berman
Clemency and Pardons
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Wed, 05/21/2025 - 12:20
The US Supreme Court is likely to hand down opinions tomorrow, and it will continue to do so on a semi-regular basis over the next six weeks as it finishes up its work for its October Term 2024. Though a...
Douglas A. Berman
Procedure and Proof at Sentencing
Sentences Reconsidered
Who Sentences
Wed, 05/21/2025 - 09:20
As reported in this AP article, "Larry Krasner has won Philadelphia’s Democratic primary election Tuesday to continue serving as district attorney after withstanding an impeachment attempt and years of criticism by President Donald Trump and other Republicans." Here is more:...
Douglas A. Berman
Elections and sentencing issues in political debates
Who Sentences
Tue, 05/20/2025 - 22:45
As reported in this AP piece, a "Texas man was executed Tuesday evening, 13 years to the day of a convenience store robbery in which he set a clerk on fire in a Dallas suburb." Here is more: Matthew Lee...
Douglas A. Berman
Death Penalty Reforms
Tue, 05/20/2025 - 11:13
Stateline has this new article, headlined "Cash assistance may curb recidivism among people leaving prison, study says," reporting on encouraging early results from a notable recidivism reduction program. I recommend the full article and underlying study which are briefly described...
Douglas A. Berman
Reentry and community supervision
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