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Sentencing articles
Articles filed under Sentencing, newest first.
- What Happens If You Reject a Plea Deal and Lose at Trial?
If you reject a plea deal and lose at trial, your sentence can be far longer than the deal you were offered, a gap often called the trial penalty.
- What Is Sentence Bargaining, and Should You Take the Deal?
Sentence bargaining means pleading guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence, and whether it makes sense depends on what the charge itself will cost you.
- Why Rehabilitation Deserves a Bigger Place in Sentencing
For decades, U.S. sentencing has leaned on punishment and prison; it is time to give rehabilitation real weight again.
- Did Making the Sentencing Guidelines Advisory Worsen Racial Disparity?
It depends whom you ask: the Sentencing Commission found wider racial gaps after Booker, while federal defenders blamed mandatory minimums and charging choices.
- How the Federal Sentencing Guidelines Work, and Where They Came From
The federal sentencing guidelines give the judge a recommended prison range to start from, but since 2005 the judge does not have to follow it.
- Racial Bias in Sentencing: What the Numbers Show
Black Americans are imprisoned at about five times the rate of white Americans, and laws, hidden bias, and unequal conditions all play a part.
- Can a First-Time Federal Offender Avoid Prison?
Sometimes: federal law already favors non-prison sentences for many first offenders, and the guidelines have moved further that way since 2017.
- Why Similar Federal Crimes Can Get Very Different Sentences
Similar conduct can draw very different federal sentences, depending on the Guidelines, mandatory minimums, and how much room the judge has to decide.
- How to Choose a Lawyer for Federal Sentencing: 5 Tips
A sentencing advocate shows the judge who you really are before the sentence is set, so look for someone who cares, knows federal sentencing, and is realistic.
- Should Anyone 21 or Younger Face the Death Penalty? The ABA Says No
In February 2018, the American Bar Association urged every U.S. jurisdiction to stop sentencing people to death for crimes committed at age 21 or younger.
- Sentencing Reform and Federal Prison News: January 2018
In January 2018, several reform bills were pending in Congress and the Sentencing Commission was weighing new amendments; the First Step Act passed that December.
- Who Got Clemency Under Obama's 2014 Initiative? What the Data Shows
A 2017 Sentencing Commission report found that only 86 of 1,696 people granted commutations under the 2014 initiative appeared to meet every announced factor.
- Does a Texas Burglary Conviction Count Under the ACCA?
Yes. After two Supreme Court rulings, the full Fifth Circuit held in 2019 that Texas burglary is generic burglary and counts toward the ACCA's 15-year minimum.
- Can You Be Made to Forfeit Drug Money Your Co-Conspirators Got?
No. In Honeycutt v. United States, the Supreme Court held that drug forfeiture reaches only what you yourself obtained, not what your co-conspirators received.
- Sessions v. Dimaya: Why the Supreme Court Struck Down 18 U.S.C. § 16(b)
The Supreme Court held in Sessions v. Dimaya (2018) that the residual clause in 18 U.S.C. § 16(b) is unconstitutionally vague, and it struck down a similar § 924(c) clause in 2019.
- What the Sentencing Commission Found About Young Federal Offenders (2017)
The Commission's 2017 report found that people 25 and under made up 18% of federal sentencings, and most of their crimes were nonviolent.
- Restitution After a Mortgage Fraud Conviction: United States v. Ritchie
Courts may look at the actual facts to decide whether restitution is mandatory, and a bank that took over a fraudulent loan can recover the full unpaid balance.
- Is Texas Injury to a Child a Crime of Violence? The Fifth Circuit Said No
No. The Fifth Circuit held in 2017 that Texas injury to a child is broader than a crime of violence, so it could not support an illegal reentry enhancement.
- Can Amendment 782 Lower a Money Laundering Sentence?
Yes, if the money laundering offense level was based on the drug offense level, the Fifth Circuit held that Amendment 782 can lower that sentence too.
- Why the Sentencing Commission Made No Guideline Changes in 2017
The Commission lacked a voting quorum for almost three months, leaving too little time to adopt amendments before the May 1 deadline.