Sentencing Guidelines

Don't Blame Judges for Racial Disparity

Julie Stewart | Posted 04.09.2012

Read More: Families Against Mandatory Minimums, U.S. Sentencing Commission, Prison, Punishment, Sentencing Guidelines, Racial Disparities, Sentencing, Congress, Mandatory Minimums, Black Voices News
Julie Stewart

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

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GOP Seeks Big Changes In Federal Prison Sentences

NPR | Posted 01.31.2012

Read More: Federal Prison Terms, James Sensenbrenner, Douglas Berman, Matt Miner, Mandatory Sentences, Sentencing Guidelines, Patti Saris, Amy Baron-Evans, Bill Otis, House Judiciary Committee, Crime News

Every year, federal judges sentence more than 80,000 criminals. Those punishments are supposed to be fair — and predictable. But seven years ago, th...

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As Computers Get Smart, We're Getting Dumb

Stephen Baker | Posted 11.29.2011

Read More: Politics, Sentencing Guidelines, Intelligence, Brain, Artificial Intelligence, Rules, Artificial-Intelligence-Test, Human Computer, IBM Watson, Computer Science, Computer Humans, Technology News
Stephen Baker

Rules are dumb. We all know it. Each of us has a magnificent brain, the most intricately engineered known artifact in the universe, and yet in a world of rules, we're not trusted to exercise our judgment.

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New Crack Cocaine Laws May Apply To Old Cases

AP | JESSICA GRESKO | Posted 07.31.2011

Read More: Sentencing Guidelines, Crack Cocaine Sentences, Prisons, Crack Cocaine Sentencing, Prison, Crack Cocaine Mandatory Minimums, Crack Cocaine, Mandatory Minimums, Politics News

WASHINGTON — A year ago, a drug dealer caught with 50 grams of crack cocaine faced a mandatory 10 years in federal prison. Today, new rules cut ...

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Sentencing Cameron Douglas -- Or, the Selective Implementation of the War on Drugs

Arlene M. Roberts | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Cameron Douglas, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Federal Sentencing Deadlines, Richard A. Berman, Sentencing Guidelines, Substance Abuse, The Sentencing Project, Truth-in-Sentencing, New York News
Arlene M. Roberts

What if judges routinely and consistently departed from sentencing guidelines? What impact could it have on the composition of the inmate population nationwide?

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Senate Panel Approves Weakened Cocaine Sentencing Bill

The American Prospect | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jeff Sessions, Drugs, Crack Cocaine Sentencing, Crack Cocaine, Cocaine, Dick Durbin, Drug Sentencing, Powder Cocaine, Sentencing Guidelines, Politics News

Earlier this morning, Sen. Dick Durbin announced that he and Sen. Jeff Sessions had reached a "compromise" in the Senate gym over Durbin's bill, which...

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Confessions of a Sentencing Judge

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Chelsea King, John Albert Gardner, Punishment, Sex Offenders, Sentencing Guidelines, Sentencing, Rehabilitation, Deterrence, Politics News
Judge H. Lee Sarokin

Balancing the need to protect the public within the limits imposed by the law and the Constitution is an awesome task for a judge. Let me assure you that it is nothing like the TV judges, who rap their gavel and then say: "Next case."

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Supreme Court Restores Broad Sentencing Powers To Federal Judges

New York Times | LINDA GREENHOUSE | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Criminal Sentencing, Federal Judges, Supreme Court, Sentencing Guidelines, Politics News

The Supreme Court today restored federal judges to their traditional central role in criminal sentencing. In two decisions, the court said federal di...

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