Oklahoma board recommends clemency for Julius Jones who claims innocence from death row
This local article reports on a notable development in a high-profile case in Oklahoma involving the next death row inmate scheduled to be executed in the coming weeks. Here are the details:
via Blogger http://douglasacogan.blogspot.com/2021/11/oklahoma-board-recommends-clemency-for.html November 02, 2021 at 07:15AM
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On Election Day, an encouraging report about moves away from prison gerrymandering
NBC News has this new encouraging piece that seems fitting for Election Day 2021. The article is fully headlined "States rethink 'prison gerrymandering' in 2020 redistricting process: More than a dozen states are changing how they handle incarcerated Americans in redistricting maps, unwinding a practice critics call 'prison gerrymandering'." Here are excerpts:
via Blogger http://douglasacogan.blogspot.com/2021/11/on-election-day-encouraging-report.html November 02, 2021 at 07:15AM
"Sentencing Guidelines Abstention"
The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper now available via SSRN authored by Dawinder S. Sidhu. Here is its abstract:
via Blogger http://douglasacogan.blogspot.com/2021/11/sentencing-guidelines-abstention.html November 02, 2021 at 06:15AM
Some notable dissents and a statement together with SCOTUS criminal justice cert denials
The merits cases scheduled to be argued before the Supreme Court this week on topics like abortion and gun rights are rightly getting a lot of attention. But the week has started with this order list in which Court has 5+ pages listing cases on which certiorari has been denied. In three cases involving criminal-law related issues, some Justices penned statements concerning these denials. Via How Appealing, here are the basics with links:
The lengthiest and most notable of these separate opinions is in the Coonce case, where Justice Sotomayor starts her 11-page dissent this way:
One of many notable aspects of this case is highlighted by this observation in the dissent:
I believe the defendant in this case will still be able to bring a 2255 motion, so the Justices voting to deny cert may be content to have these "execution competency" issues addressed in that setting. But Justice Sotomayor closes her dissent explaining why that seems to her insufficient:
via Blogger http://douglasacogan.blogspot.com/2021/11/some-notable-dissents-and-statement.html November 02, 2021 at 06:15AM
Will "outcry" over ugly details of latest Oklahoma execution impact its plans to have six more in coming months?
The question in the title of this post is prompted by the first word of the headline, and then the last sentence of the body, of this new Guardian piece: "Outcry after Oklahoma prisoner vomits and convulses during execution." Here are the basics:
I put the word "outcry" in quotes because, so far, I have mostly seen opponents of the death penalty comment and assail the latest ugly Oklahoma execution. If only the "usual subjects" are complaining about the execution, I doubt that will slow the state's current plan to execute another half-dozen people in the coming month. But it also seems possible, especially if more evidence of problems with the execution process emerges, that some death penalty supporters in Oklahoma or elsewhere will express concern and be in a position to slow future trips to the death chamber. Prior recent related posts:
UPDATE: This local article suggests that Oklahoma officials are not troubled by the execution of John Grant. Here is how it stars:
via Blogger http://douglasacogan.blogspot.com/2021/11/will-outcry-over-ugly-details-of-latest.html November 02, 2021 at 06:15AM
"Bloody Lucre: Carceral Labor and Prison Profit"
The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Laura Appleman and now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract:
via Blogger http://douglasacogan.blogspot.com/2021/11/bloody-lucre-carceral-labor-and-prison.html November 02, 2021 at 06:15AM USSC releases "new" guideline manual as Acting Chair describes recent Commission activities11/2/2021
USSC releases "new" guideline manual as Acting Chair describes recent Commission activities
The US Sentencing Commission today published on its site this two-page letter by Acting Chair Charles R. Breyer (which is dated September 15, 2021). The letter discusses the release of a "new" Guideline Manual as well as recent work by the Commission. All federal sentencing fans will want to check out the whole letter, and here are just some of the interesting excerpts:
via Blogger http://douglasacogan.blogspot.com/2021/11/ussc-releases-new-guideline-manual-as.html November 02, 2021 at 06:15AM
"Federal Offenders Who Served in the Armed Forces"
The title of this post is the title of this fascinating new report from the US Sentencing Commission released today. This USSC webpage provides this overview and key findings:
via Blogger http://douglasacogan.blogspot.com/2021/10/federal-offenders-who-served-in-armed.html October 28, 2021 at 10:15AM BJS releases "Federal Justice Statistics 2019" with immigration and drugs dominating federal dockets10/28/2021
BJS releases "Federal Justice Statistics, 2019" with immigration and drugs dominating federal dockets
Via email this morning I learned of the release of this notable new data report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics titled simply "Federal Justice Statistics, 2019." The email summarized the report this way:
Covering a period from Oct. 1 2018 to Sept. 30, 2019, this report captures the last full yearly snapshot of the federal criminal justice system before COVID hit in early 2020. And, though federal data always reveal that the modern federal justice system is focused particularly on immigration and drug cases, these new data from the report still paint a notable picture of our federal criminal justice system in operation while highlighting how arrest patterns and sentencing patterns diverge for the two biggest crime categories:
via Blogger http://douglasacogan.blogspot.com/2021/10/bjs-releases-federal-justice-statistics.html October 28, 2021 at 08:15AM
Is it foolish to hope, after now 35 years, that Congress will soon fix the crack-powder federal sentencing disparity?
My twitter feed this morning was full with folks noting that today marks officially a full 35 years(!) since Congress enacted the notorious 100-1 crack/powder cocaine ratio disparity. The full story of 35 years of federal crack sentencing injustice and dysfunction cannot be recounted in a blog post. But a few highlights document that a complete fix is long in the making, long overdue, and cannot come to soon. The US Sentencing Commission sent a report to Congress in 1995 — 26 years ago! — highlight the myriad flaws with the crack-powder sentence scheme and proposed guidelines changes to partially fix the 100:1 crack/powder disparity by adopting a 1:1 quantity ratio at the powder cocaine level. But Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed, legislation rejecting the USSC’s proposed guideline changes (see basics here and here), thereby ensuring decades of disproportionately severe crack sentences and extreme racial inequities in cocaine offense punishments. Barack Obama gave a 2007 campaign speech assailing the crack/powder disparity, and in 2009 the Obama Justice Department advocated for "Congress to completely eliminate the crack/powder disparity." Despite strong DOJ advocacy for a 1:1 ratio in April 2009, it still took Congress more than a year to enact only a partial reduction in crack sentences rather than the parity advocated by the USSC in 1995 and by DOJ in 2009. Specifically, the Fair Sentencing Act enshrined a new 18:1 crack/powder quantity disparity ratio into federal drug sentencing statutes and guidelines, and even this modest reform did not become fully retroactive until eight years later with the 2018 FIRST STEP Act. Excitingly, as noted here, the US House voted 361-66 last month to pass the EQUAL Act to end, finally and completely, the statutory disparity between powder and crack cocaine sentences. In this new Hill commentary, Aamra Ahmad And Jeremiah Mosteller make the case that Congress should finally get this long overdue reform to the finish line. Here is the start and end of their piece:
A few prior recent related posts:
via Blogger http://douglasacogan.blogspot.com/2021/10/is-it-foolish-to-hope-after-now-35.html October 27, 2021 at 03:15PM |
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