Sentencing

Broke Mortgage Broker Gets Life For Killing Family

AP | Posted 04.29.2012

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A nearly bankrupt ex-mortgage broker who said he snapped when he fatally shot his wife and 7-year-old twin sons has been...

Don't Blame Judges for Racial Disparity

Julie Stewart | Posted 04.09.2012

Julie Stewart

Members of Congress who believe offenders should be punished for their conduct and not the color of their skin should take heed.

'Barefoot Bandit' Sentenced To 6 1/2 Years For High-Flying Crime Spree

AP | MANUEL VALDES | Posted 03.28.2012

SEATTLE — After a two-year international crime spree in which he survived a handful of crash landings, Colton Harris-Moore – the infamous ...

Why Did Governor Haley Barbour's Pardons Cause Such A Backlash?

Molly M. Gill | Posted 03.20.2012

Molly M. Gill

The last 30 years of sentencing policy may provide an answer. Getting "tough on crime" became popular among the public and politicians alike. We rejected the notion that a criminal could be rehabilitated.

Brothers In Alleged NC Terror Ring To Learn Their Fate

AP | EMERY P. DALESIO | Posted 02.19.2012

NEW BERN, N.C. — Two brothers who watched as their father transformed their rural North Carolina family home into a base camp to launch violent ...

Fla. Millionaire Convicted Of Killing Wife Gets 30-Year Sentence

Reuters | Posted 02.15.2012

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Fla, Dec 16 (Reuters) - A millionaire convicted of second-degree murder for the shooting death of his wife ...

Suspect Put Family Through 'Ultimate House Of Horrors' In Brutal Home Invasion: Prosecutor

AP | By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN | Posted 12.03.2011

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, Associated Press NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A Connecticut man and his accomplice created "the ultimate house of horrors" in a 2007...

Legal Thriller: Jackson Doc To Learn His Fate

AP | By ANTHONY McCARTNEY | Posted 11.29.2011

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- Michael Jackson's doctor will learn his punishment Tuesday for ending the life and career of ...

Two Get Prison Time For Deadly Buttocks Enhancement Surgery

AP | By KEN RITTER | Posted 12.20.2011

LAS VEGAS -- A Colombian husband and wife were each sentenced Thursday to up to eight years in a Nevada prison plus a year in county jail for leaving ...

WATCH: Feds Want Harsh Sentence For Blagojevich

Posted 11.15.2011

Update: The U.S. Attorney's Office issued a statement Thursday in response to news reports about former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's possible s...

Man Gets Life In Prison For Nursing Home Slayings

AP | By TOM BREEN | Posted 11.04.2011

CARTHAGE, N.C. -- Robert Stewart showed the same lack of emotion when a jury found him guilty of murder Saturday as witnesses say he displayed when he...

Mother Who Punished Boy With Hot Sauce To Be Sentenced

AP | DAN JOLING | Posted 10.29.2011

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Alaska woman convicted of punishing her adopted Russian son by squirting hot sauce into his mouth was spared immediate ja...

Lizzie Schiffman

New Juvenile Justice Law Aims To Keep Young Offenders Out Of Prison

HuffingtonPost.com | Lizzie Schiffman | Posted 10.16.2011

Legislation signed Monday will require juvenile court judges to review additional factors before issuing sentences in Illinois, in the hopes sending f...

Tories Won't Budge On Mandatory Minimums: Nicholson

CP | Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press | Posted 10.15.2011

HALIFAX - Canada's judges will get no leeway on mandatory minimum sentences as Ottawa proceeds with its anti-crime agenda during the fall session of P...

Niece Says Ohio Serial Killer Sexually Abused Her

AP | THOMAS J. SHEERAN | Posted 10.02.2011

CLEVELAND — The niece of a Cleveland man convicted of killing 11 women and stashing their remains in and around his home testified Tuesday that ...

Radley Balko

Myths Of The Criminal Justice System

HuffingtonPost.com | Radley Balko | Posted 10.31.2011

Note: In conjunction with the launch of HuffPost's Crime vertical, senior writer and criminal justice reporter Radley Balko looks at several myths and...

Rabbi Sentenced In Money Laundering Scheme

Posted 08.02.2011

By Maryann Spoto Religion News Service TRENTON, N.J. (RNS) As the spiritual leader of the nation's largest Syrian Sephardic community for decades,...

Every Child Deserves a Second Chance

Anthony Barkow | Posted 07.24.2011

Anthony Barkow

As a society we can no longer afford to declare youth worthless and sentence them to die in prison without giving them an opportunity to have their sentence reviewed.

Lawrence Taylor To Become Registered Sex Offender

AP | JIM FITZGERALD | Posted 05.25.2011

NEW CITY, N.Y. — The teenage girl at the center of the sex-crimes case against football great Lawrence Taylor made a surprise appearance at his ...

No Room at the Inn

Andrea Lyon | Posted 05.25.2011

Andrea Lyon

If we are serious as a nation about crime reduction, and solving our budget woes, we have to spend our limited resources in a more intelligent way, look at our policies with a longer view, and embrace our brothers and sisters who are in trouble.

The Insanity of Sentencing Minors to Adult Prison: The Maryland Study

Jacqueline Caster | Posted 05.25.2011

Jacqueline Caster

In the clear majority of cases, charging children as adults in the criminal system makes no sense. In fact, it actually has the perverse effect of increasing recidivism rates.

Sense and Sentencing

Andrea Lyon | Posted 05.25.2011

Andrea Lyon

We have a much better chance of rehabilitation with someone who has been treated and trained than someone who has been incarcerated. It is time to move from the draconian to the sensible.

A Novel Approach to Stem Gang Recruitment of Minors

Jacqueline Caster | Posted 05.25.2011

Jacqueline Caster

Shouldn't there be a law that adds an automatic and very significant enhancement to the sentence of any adult who participates in a crime that involves a youth as a co-conspirator?

Cocaine Sentencing Injustice Slightly Lessened

Chris Weigant | Posted 05.25.2011

Chris Weigant

In true incrementalist fashion, Democrats have now made things slightly less unfair, but fell far short of actual fairness. It's as if, right after the Civil War, Congress announced that black people would now count as four-fifths of a person.

Fourteen Examples of Racism in Criminal Justice System

Bill Quigley | Posted 05.25.2011

Bill Quigley

Saying the US criminal system is racist may be politically controversial in some circles. But the facts are overwhelming. There's no real debate about that. Here's why.