Sentencing Class @ OSU Moritz College of Law
A new home for an old class blog
recent posts
- Anyone have any distinct views on who Joe Biden should pick as US Attorney General?
- What data in the federal system would indicate the Biden Administration is drawing down the federal drug war?
- A final (too brief) foray into what metrics and data matter for assessing a sentencing system
- Reactions to our look behind the robes with federal sentencing judges?
- Are there any “offender characteristics” that you think must be considered at sentencing? If so, how?
about
Category: Alternatives to imprisonment
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One idea worth consideration as we explore theories of punishment is whether prison, which is our modern default punishment for all serious offenses, is really any good at advancing any of the traditional theoretical goals. When pressed on this front, advocates of prison and modern mass incarceration often claim that prison is at least good…
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Though I have not been able to find online all of the sentencing submissions in the college scandal case, the fine folks at Deadline have posted here the nine-page "Government’s Supplemental Sentencing Memorandum Concerning Defendant Felicity Huffman." The whole document makes for a fine read, and these paragraph at the very end struck me as…
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As we finish up the semester with a final few classes examining the particulars of modern mass incarceration and possible alternatives, I realize it would be useful and fitting to return to some of the early themes of the class concerning the "why" and "who" of sentencing. Specifically (and building off themes stressed by Fordham Law…
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then this post can help facilitate discussion and reflection on prison history in the United States, building on the video about Eastern State Penitentiary and the modern reality that time in jail or prisons is now our default punishment for crimes both major and minor. If you are interested in learning more about Eastern State, check out this…
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One of my favorite documents in the history of US sentencing law and policy is this document authored by Thomas Jefferson in 1778 under the title "A Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments in Cases Heretofore Capital." I recommend a read of the entire document (as well as this historical discussion of its backstory and its rejection by one…
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One of my all-time favorite documents in the history of US sentencing law and policy is this document authored by Thomas Jefferson in 1778 under the title "A Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments in Cases Heretofore Capital." I recommend a read of the entire document (as well as this historical discussion of its backstory and its…
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Since I keep managing to end class with lingering questions about castration as a punishment for sex offenses, I figured I would use this blog space to highlight some existing literature on this topic. Perhaps my main goal here is to be sure I do not leave the impression that I am the only one who thinks (too much?) about…
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I suggested in Tuesday's class that, if incapacitation was a key goal/purpose when sentencing convicted rapist Richard Graves, that castration would seem likely much more effective than any term in prison. (Indeed, given ugly statistics concerning prison rape, a trip to prison might be the worst way to prevent Graves from raping again.) But I…
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Here is the final "top-flight" guest-post material I received before the holidays. Though I will not be posting any more guest-posts for extra credit, students can keep earning class participation credit by commenting on this and other posts until the start of classes in January: We no longer recognize just the first place winner, but…
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We concluded our first week's class discussion with questions about whether and why castration (either physical or chemical) could and would be a fitting punishment for convicted rapist Richard Graves. As a preview of second week topics, I encouraged considering whether answers to these questions might be changed or significantly influenced if (a) Graves' victim…
Sentencing Class @ OSU Moritz College of Law 