Though this blog space has not been especially active through the semester, I wanted to do a (last?) post to share some concluding thoughts:
1. I first wanted to say thanks to all of you for taking a chance by signing up for a seminar with a visiting professor, and also for sticking with the class after it surely became clear to you that I am somewhat unorthodox in my approach to teaching and student engagement.
2. I really meant it when I said that anyone who has survived my seminar has an open (and essentially permanent) offer to work with me on my various research projects and/or pro bono practice activities. Though I cannot always ensure you get paid for your time and energies, I can always ensure that you will have interesting (and generally low-stress) work opportunities. Especially because modern technology makes it easy to work together on-line from different cities (or even different countries), you should keep in mind that there is significant sentencing work to be found in Berman's office even if you are nowhere near Berman's actual office.
3. I hope you will consider using the comments to this post (as well as the traditional course evaluations) to share any final reflections you have about either the substance or the style of our course and the assignments you have been asked to complete. My own reflections include the fact that I found every moment that we spent together in class to be wondrously engaging and productive, and yet I still feel as though I barely scratched the surface concerning all the sentencing themes, issues and doctrines that I had hoped to cover. (In addition, I am truly quite grumpy that SCOTUS did not issue opinions in any of the major sentencing cases of the current term while we were still together.)
4. As this post reveals, I remain eager for continued engagement with all of you, not just concerning our course, but also concerning your futures and plans. Please do not hesitate to keep in touch with me via e-mail, and be extra sure to connect with me if/when you are looking for any professional opportunities in the sentencing arena.
5. Good luck finishing up you white papers and the rest of this semester.
Sentencing Class @ OSU Moritz College of Law 
One response to “Thanks, work opportunities, final reflections and continued engagement”
As a member of the public and an owner of the law, some perspective. Physical safety is the first and last reason to have a government at all. Punishment and sentencing are the sole tools of the law.
Right now, the criminal law is in failure. Only 1 in 10 crimes is answered in any way. Then the rate of innocence of falsely convicted defendants is likely horrendous. One reason for this catastrophic failure is the Scholasticist methodology of the lawyer profession. Yes, Daubert standards apply to criminal procedure. Apply it to the jury trial, and you could not use juries as done now. The lawyer is so incompetent, he has eliminated the small advantage of group judgment, the wisdom of the crowd. Eye witness testimony would go. Determinate sentences would go. The idea of punishment would go. The sole success of the lawyer is to enable crime, and to make a living off government sinecures off it.
Guidelines were difficult to calculate. They becoming discretionary has not increased crime as I and others predicted. Their inscrutability violated the notice portion of procedural due process rights. Their arbitrariness and lack of scientific validation violated legality.
If the course inspired the thought of the necessity of starting from scratch, it has done the public a great service.
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