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?
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Category: Class activities
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After our first few weeks of class discussing theories of punishment, you likely recall that we never reached any kind of firm conclusive resolution as to what goals a sentencing system must or should pursue. For that reason (and others), it should not be a surprise that there is no firm conclusive view of what…
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As we continue digging into the challenging and dynamic topics of offender characteristics at sentencing, I urge you to think about what offender characteristics should or must always be considered at federal sentencing with two particular "whos" in mind: the US Sentencing Commission and US District Judges. The challenge for the USSC You should closely review…
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Amidst all the recent uncertainty and angst, I wanted to be certain to remind everyone about our class plans for the rest of November: Tuesday, Nov 10: Guest lecture via Zoom by Jonathan Wroblewski, Director of the Office of Policy and Legislation in the Criminal Division of the US Department of Justice. (No in-person class,…
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As we all deal with post-election day uncertainty, I wanted to be certain to remind everyone about out certain class plans for this week and next: Thursday, Nov 5: In-person regular class to discuss the election and finish up discussion of "the crime" for sentencing (some additional optional materials here on drug offenses) Tuesday, Nov…
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CLASS LOGISTICS REMINDER: On Nov 3, we will have an election day optional on-line Zoom class; I'll be on Zoom at the usual time for an unstructured discussion of how the 2020 election could impact sentencing matters (some noted here); on Nov 5, we will have an in-person regular class (perhaps about election results and) finishing…
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As I mentioned in class, over the next few weeks we will have a somewhat "choppy" schedule as we start diving deeply into "Sentencing Inputs" (starting "The Crime" and then "The Criminal" readings as listed on our syllabus). For clarity and planning purposes, here is what I am (tentatively) expecting to cover our in time…
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I am hopeful that all the videos of all the speakers and panels from last week's NACDL conference, Prison Brake: Rethinking the Sentencing Status Quo, will be available on-line before too long. In the meantime, any and all students who would like to "earn" some more class time credits should consider checking out some slightly…
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As I have mentioned a few times in class (and in prior postings), today there is no in-person usual class, but you all should be watching live all week as much of Prison Brake: Rethinking the Sentencing Status Quo as possible. And today (October 20), there are two great symposium panels during the time of our class (one…
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As I have mentioned a few times in class (and in prior postings), next week is full of exciting online events. Specifically: Monday-Thursday Oct. 19-22 Prison Brake: Rethinking the Sentencing Status Quo (attending the October 20 afternoon sessions will be in place of our class) Wednesday Oct. 21 12noon Bodiker Lecture on Criminal Justice As I have also said a few…
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In this post from last month, back when we were focused on "whos," I highlighted some data on mandatory minimums in the federal sentencing system. Back then, we were talking somewhat generally about how prosecutors garner sentencing power from mandatory minimum sentencing statutes. Now that we are working through the sentencing of Rob Anon, we…
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As I have emphasized in our recent classes, much of the rest of our time together will have us discussing non-capital (and mostly federal) sentencing policies and practice after modern guideline reforms. As we turn to sentencing Rob Anon under the modern federal sentencing guidelines, I would encourage class members to try to figure out…
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As mentioned last week, Tuesday's class is to be devoted to the history of early prisons in the United States as told through a 53-minute documentary titled simply "Eastern State Penitentiary." My savvy daughter astutely mentioned to me today that, in this Zoomy world, students might prefer watching this video on their own rather than…
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As stressed in class, much of the rest of the semester is going to explore non-capital (and mostly federal) sentencing policies and practice before and after modern guideline reforms. Our work will start and advance through a deep discussion of sentencing realities faced in sentencing Rob Anon — whose crime and history appear in short form at…
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Though I provided in this post a working draft of a proposed "Ohio Racial and Gender Justice Act" (which I hope to discuss in class on Thursday), I now realize it makes sense to also provide here some recent data and discussion on how race seems to impact our capital justice systems. From the Death…
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As the casebook highlights, Kentucky in 1998 enacted the first statutory response to the McClesky ruling through its Kentucky Racial Justice Act. There has not been much litigation over the Kentucky RJA because that legislation was expressly made not retroactive so that it could not be applied to any person sentenced to death in Kentucky before July 1998. (In contrast,…
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As I have mentioned in class, in the coming weeks there are a number of online events that might be of interest to sentencing fans. Here is a quick run down of these events with links for more information: Thursday, Sept. 24 10am Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission Meeting Friday-Saturday, Sept. 25-26 Guilty Minds: A Virtual…
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As mentioned briefly in class, this coming week we are going to work through Problem 3-3 (at pp. 46-53 here) in order to more closely examine the operation of modern death penalty statutes. This problem asks you to imagine how you might help represent Ted Kaczynski if he were to be prosecuted under applicable death…
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Next week, we will turn to an (all-too-quick) review of capital sentencing law, procedures and practices. As the syllabus reveals, the readings for this unit (which will keep us busy through most of the rest of September) are to be provided mostly here online. If requested, I can provided hard copies in class, and here…
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As I mentioned briefly in class, and as will be useful as we turn to some famous and consequential Supreme Court rulings, I am eager for you to start giving thought to whether the text or spirit of the US Constitution favors or prioritizes any particular theory of punishment or any particular "whos" in a…
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One main goal of our first few weeks of classes is to enable you to be able to analyze and assess in a sophisticated way the theories of punishment and institutional players that formally and functionally have key roles in the operation of our sentencing systems. As I have already started to emphasize and will…
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The title of this post is the title of this webinar that I would highly urge you to attend if you are available. It will take place online Wednesday, September 2, 2020, from 2-3:00 p.m. ET. You can register here, where you will see this description: Draconian sentencing laws and practices stretch back decades and…
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I have now posted the Zoom recording of our first class to CarmenCanvas under the "Modules" heading. I hope to make a consistent practice of posting the recording the evening of our afternoon classes. As I mentioned in an email, I plan to have "virtual" office hours from 2 to 4pm on Wednesdays. I do…
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This blog got started over a dozen years ago (with the uninspired title of Death Penalty Course @ Moritz College of Law) to facilitate student engagement in a Spring 2007 course on the death penalty. Because the blog proved successful during that semester, and because the students' hard work as reflected in these archives still…
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So even though it has only been a few weeks since our last class, I miss seeing you all and I continue to hope you are enduring the pandemic (and finals) with good health and good cheer. In addition to doing one last post to say thanks again for a great semester, I wanted to…
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I keep wanting to believe that I have a handle on technology, but it seems I only can figure out blogging (sometimes). To that end, here is Andrea's terrific presentation (in two parts because of the size of the file): Download Part 1 — Clemency for Victims of Sex Trafficking Who Commit Download Part 2…
Sentencing Class @ OSU Moritz College of Law 