Sentencing Guidelines Meaning – An Overview
If you, or a loved one, have been charged with a federal crime, are currently on trial for a federal offense, or are facing a sentencing hearing in federal criminal court; then you are probably wondering what the Federal Sentencing Guidelines mean for your case. You may even be hearing terms like “base offense level”…
Sentencing Worksheet | How Federal Courts Determine Sentences
Did you ever wonder how a judge arrives at the criminal sentence he or she imposes in federal court? Is it gut instinct? Are there law books to consult? In fact, federal judges typically go through a rigorous analysis of the case before arriving at a sentence consistent with the United States Sentencing Guidelines and…
Ohio’s Sentencing Practices Under U.S. Supreme Court Scrutiny
Is it possible for a trial judge to be the final and only say in a person’s life-without-parole sentence? It is possible that a person has no right to appeal such a sentence? Apparently, under the sentencing practices in Ohio, the answer is “yes.” Three months ago, the United States Supreme Court passed on the…
To Plea or Not to Plea? Horror Stories After Rejecting A Plea Deal
Sentencing after trial can be quite different after accepting a plea bargain. The “discount” that a plea bargain provides comes at a significant cost to a person’s life. A defendant must consider all aspects of their case before they accept a plea deal. Individuals must examine everything from the strength of the prosecutor’s case to…
The First Step Act: All Your Questions Explained
On May 9, 2018, the House Judiciary Committee passed a bipartisan federal prison reform bill known as the First Step Act (H.R. 5682). The bill’s longer name is the “Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act.” The First Step Act was previously called the Prison Reform and Redemption Act. Before the First…
What Is Sentencing Bargaining, and Why Do We Do It?
It takes place in private. Sometimes it occurs within a matter of minutes. And it has a massive impact on a person’s life. It is the practice of plea bargaining, which sometimes takes the form of sentencing bargaining. You cannot read a book or watch a television program about a legal case where the concept…
Rehabilitation: Reviving One of the Forgotten Sentencing Theories
Of the four sentencing theories in our society – retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation – it appears that we lean too heavily today on the first three. It is now time to revive one of the forgotten sentencing theories – rehabilitation. Sentencing Theories: The Fallout of Retribution Fact: Roughly 2.2 million Americans are incarcerated in…
The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines: Did Making Them Advisory Increase or Decrease Racial Injustice?
Any analysis of America’s current criminal justice system leads to the conclusion that the racial bias present in our nation is present in our criminal justice system as well. Excising explicit or implicit racism from the system has been an ongoing project since the mid 20th century. The project has yet to be successful. Nearly…
Sentencing Enhancements: California Leads the Way to Fewer Mandatory Enhancements
United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously wrote that a “state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” (New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann). The current trend in the world of criminal justice is a shift away…
Federal Sentencing Guidelines | What You Need To Know
Over the last few decades, the United States has been overrun with politicians telling us to elect them because they believe in locking up criminals – particularly drug criminals – and simply throwing away the key. Being “tough on crime” vis-a-vis federal sentencing guidelines became so ubiquitous in political discourse, it seeped into American culture…