I was pleased to see some students were able to attend some of the events previous flagged in September, and I now can provide an updated and expanded list of online events that might be of interest to sentencing fans throughout the month of October.  Here is a quick run down of these events with…

As mentioned in class, your primary assignment for this week is to work on figuring out what topic will be the focal point for your class presentation and concluding paper.  In class next week, we will start our discussions by having everyone share (tentative) plans.  Thereafter, we will return to our discussions of clemency history,…

This blog got started over a dozen years ago (with the uninspired title of Death Penalty Course @ Moritz College of Law) in order 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…

As stressed in class, much of the rest of the class is going to involve detailed discussions of 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 the sentencing realities faced in sentencing Rob Anon in a pre-guideline world…

This blog got started over a dozen years ago (with the uninspired title of Death Penalty Course @ Moritz College of Law) in order 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…

I received a cool call earlier this week from folks at Ohioans To Stop Executions.  They reported that they are helping to host on Tuesday, May 22 a delegation from the European Union.  Around lunchtime, this EU group wants to meet with "Professor Berman and some of his students" to talk about Ohio's administration of…

remember that if you are taking the take-home exam, you should upload your exam answers to http://www.exam4.com on or before May 10. (Remember that a copy of the exam can be downloaded at the same locale and can also be found in front of my office.) If you are working on a final paper, you…

Despite this prior post intended to help ensure we stayed on task in class, the energies of the post-election period — and my own struggle with figuring out what should be a sentencing priority in a Trumpian world — led me to fail badly in this regard before Turkey Day.  But a personal and temporal break, and especially…

Remember, wonderful and patient and understanding students, that we are finally going to (try to) return to our usual programming by working on the sentencing or Rob Anon.  Specifically, it is very important that you come to class today (Tuesday) with an exact sentence you wish to impose on Rob Anon assuming you are a sentencing…

Especially when we go a long time between classes, I trust students realize that following developments at my main blog is a good way to maintain the "low stress, high learning" experience. And especially in the last few days, we have had a lot of (educational?) "who sentences" stories relating to the death penalty.  Here are links to just…

Because I have not been a model of consistency and clarity concerning what students should be reading for class and concerning what I expect to cover, let me here try to make amends with a brief outline/overview of my class plans/expectations: Tuesday, Sept 27: We will finish up a discussion of Furman/Gregg/Woodson/Roberts/Coker, which help explain/define…

The question in the title of this post is a (slightly modified) version of what I have asked here at my main blog, where I also link to commentaries urging mass commutation by two law professors and by a retired assistant director of institutions and superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary. Notably, back in November 2011,…

Just a quick note to remind everyone that… 1.  The next deadline for submission of a mini-paper (requirements outlined here) is this coming Monday (Feb. 9) at 12noon. 2.  You should prepare for this week's classes by: (re)considering how differing state capital laws impact death sentencing discretion for the Unibomber (and others) (re)reading McClesky v. Kemp (paying extra special…

As of this writing (4:30pm on Wednesday, December 21), I now know of seven distinct groups(!) of students that have developed and/or are still developing a draft amicus brief for possible submission in the SCOTUS juve LWOP cases.  Four of these groups involve just a pair of students working together, one group is a trio, one…

An amazing website I highly recommend during every politcal season is The Living Room Candidate, which has video clips of more than 300 TV commercials from the major presidential candidates for every presidential election since 1952.  Historically, there have not been all that many ads focused on crime and punishment in presidential election cycles, but a few elections…

This is one of my favorite modern videos about the politics of sentencing.  It is already a bit dated, but still is a great 90 seconds.  Enjoy.

As I mentioned in our last pre-break class, I highly recommend everyone join me in setting the DVR to record the new PBS three-part documentary "Prohibition."  It begins airing tonight (Sunday, Oct. 2); I am hopeful that even those without TVs may eventually be able to watch the whole series via this official website.  Here…

As I mentioned in class, I am eager to have individual conferences with all students about their mid-term and final papers the week of April 20th.  I am free just about every afternoon from 1pm on, except for when we have the scheduled moot on Monday and our class times Wednesday and Friday.  I do…

As promised, here are all the merits briefs for your review in the Ohio capital case, Bobby v. Bies, coming before the US Supreme Court later this month.  Though I do not expect everyone to attend the Monday moot, I would be grateful for suggested questions (or other reactions to the briefs) in the comments. Ohio's…

Though I doubt we will have too much extra time to talk about all the interesting sentencing developments of the last few weeks, I thought it might still be useful to spotlight here some posts from my main blog highlights some of the biggest news of the break week that was: Senator Jim Webb takes…

Though we could follow up on many points discussed in Wednesday's class in many ways, I wanted to here to link to recent reports (both long and short) to help get you thinking more about the different ways that different groups package their sentencing insights. First, here is a linkto the full New York sentencing report from the state's…

For those in an Inaugural mood today, here are some posts/links from my other blogs that might be worthy of your time and attention (and commentary): Inaugural rhetoric about freedom and liberty in prison nation Is it too early to start demanding President Obama use his clemency power? Will legal academics in top DOJ posts…

in order to allow everyone to read/reflect on some of the beliefs we hold as we start the class.  Ideally these beliefs will be related to sentencing and/or criminal justice topics, but other strongly-held beliefs are welcome.  Comments can be signed or anonymous, as you deem fit and appropriate.  I will start with two of…

Because I got so into our collective introductions and overview dialogue, I forgot to leave time for students to ask any questions or express any concerns about the class requirements and my expectations.  Most of the basics should be covered in the course description, but I will be sure to start our next class next…

Jim Rogowski and Brandon Crunkilton have provided these readings, along with a few questions for Blog discussion, in conjuction with their coverage of victim impact issues: U.S. News and World Report, 1997, "The Place for Vengeance" Journal of Family Law (excerpt), 1997, "An Argument Against Allowing the Families of Murder Victims to View Executions" Questions…