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: Course requirements
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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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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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As mentioned in class, mini-paper #3 provides you an opportunity to explore federal sentencing realities surrounding a federal defendant of your choice. Continuing a series of posts providing a suggestions about possible federal defendants you might consider examining for mini-paper #3, here are some links to posts from my main blog from the last few…
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This blog got started over 10 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 the archives still generates…
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As I surmise you could tell from the last few classes, I am not at all troubled that our discussions of how Teddy K.'s capital case might play out in states like Florida and Texas has gone on longer than I had initially planned. I am hopeful you were able to get a real feel from…
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As I mentioned in class, the final paper for this class (and the final take-home exam which is available as an alternative to completing a final paper) is due at close of business on the last day of the exam period. According to the Registrar's website, the final exam day is May 14, 2015. (Note that, because…
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I hope everyone enjoyed Spring Break as much as I did and also that everyone is looking forward to an exciting final month of our sentencing class. This post provides a couple of reminders about on-going activities as well as some updates that might be of interest as we close out March sentencing madness: 1. Everyone…
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Just a quick note to remind everyone that… 1. If you are submitting your first mini-paper this week (requirements outlined here), it is due by 12noon today (Monday, Jan 26). 2. You should prepare for this week's classes by (re)reading Williams v. New York and by reading McGautha v. California. (It is sufficient to read…
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As discussed in our first class, one course requirement is for students to author and submit at least three mini-papers throughout the semester. Each of these mini-papers must be no more than two pages long, and the papers can be (1) thoughtful reflections on the prior two week's classes and readings, or (2) engaging discussions…
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Sadly (at least from my perspective) we only have three more weeks together before classes conclude on April 23. That means eight classes, and a mere 400 minutes, because we do not have class on Tuesday 4/15. (Fortunately, as I will explain in class, this week and next we can have some extra time together…
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everyone should be doing the first part (i.e., the first page) of the sentencing exercises ASAP: after reading (or even while reading) the Frankel excerpt and the notes that follow at the start of Chapter 3, everyone should imagine herself as a federal judge at the time of Judge Frankel and come up individually with…
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As you all should know, every student is required to submit a very short paper (around 2+ pages, single or double spaced) in the next few weeks concerning a law or policy or article or book or movie or big idea related in some way to sentencing law, policy or practice that you think it…
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To make sure all is clear about the final paper/assignment, let me go over my latest thinking on how you all can wrap up your work for this course: 1. At our last class this Thursday (Dec. 8), I will have available copies of the "directed final paper" option that student may complete as their…
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As discussing in class, your second short paper assignment is a requirement that you write a very brief memo — no more than 2 pages! — to Jonathan Wroblewski, who is the director of the Justice Department's Criminal Division Office of Policy and Legislation. Here is DOJ's description of that Office's work and mission: The office's legislative…
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I am sorry the excitement of the first Ohio DP Task Force meeting (now reported here in the Columbus Dispatch and here by the AP) slowed us down today. Fortunately, this just means less work for students next week as I adjust our readings/focus. Here is a revised agenda for Friday and beyond, with some additional recommended events in the mix: Friday 11/4:…
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This coming week we are going to shift our look into modern (non-capital) sentencing reforms into high gear. To have everyone on the same page, it is essential that you come to class on Tuesday having completed the pre-modern-reform sentencing exercise I handed out at the end of last Tuesday's class. The front page of…
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I will talk more about (and provide more structure for) the second paper in coming classes. But, as explained in class today, the topic choices for the paper are limited to two hot(?) federal sentencing issues: federal statutory mandatory minimum sentencing provisions and/or circuit review of federal sentences for reasonableness after Booker. There is an incredible amount of reading one…
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As I mentioned last week in class, I am eager to receive any and all student feedback on the writing assignment I gave you for the first part of the semester. I trust no one found it too burdensome (though you should tell me if you did), and I am especially hopeful some will report…
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As you all should know, every student is required to submit a short paper (of no more than 5 pages) before Fall Break concerning a topic of sentencing law, policy or practice that you believe is under-reported and/or under-researched and/or under-litigated. I emphasize the "you" in this post because I want and expect this first paper…
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This post is intended to provide a place and space for questions about the final white-paper assignment. I will, of course, answer questions about the assignment in our final class and via personal e-mails, but I encourage students to feel comfortable asking questions here so that I can provide answers to questions in a forum…
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can and should get started in the comments to this post. And, upon request (or based on my own assessment of which comments merit added attention), specific comments can and will be transposed into a new post (which in turn can and should enable continued and more focused commentary). Most essentially, everyone is urged to…
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As I mentioned in class, I am open to lots of different ways to review and reflect on the mid-term paper experience. I especially like the idea of circulating (without identification) all the papers for all to see. But I want to provide everyone a chance to object to this tentative plan (via comments or…
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As of this writing, I have only received eight questionnaires with ranked purposes and proposed sentences for Richard Graves and John Thompson. Class will be aided greatly if I get more of these forms before 12 noon on Wednesday so I can calculate "results" before our class. THANKS!
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As noted in the course description, an 2008 on-line supplement providing additional materials to accompany our Sentencing Law and Policy casebook can be download from this blog/website. Specifically, the SL&P 2008 supplement can be downloaded at this link. Though this supplement includes lots of notes covering various sentencing developments through summer 2008, its most critical materials are the…
Sentencing Class @ OSU Moritz College of Law 