I just came across a notable ruling from a Third Circuit panel late last week in US v. Harmon, No. 24-2057 (3d Cir. Aug. 14, 2025) (available here) addressing the required process for the adjudication of sentence reduction
Douglas A. Berman
Sentencing Law and Policy is a legal blog authored by Douglas A. Berman, focusing on issues related to criminal sentencing, death penalty cases, prosecutorial discretion, and constitutional law. The blog provides analysis and commentary on recent developments in sentencing law, including Supreme Court decisions, state-level death penalty cases, and broader topics such as plea bargaining and mass incarceration. It serves as a resource for legal scholars, practitioners, and those interested in the intersection of criminal justice policy and constitutional rights. The content often addresses complex legal theories and practical implications of sentencing practices in the United States.
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Intriguing reporting on pardon pushes as Prez Trump’s clemency pen rests
As detailed on this page at DOJ’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, Prez Donald Trump was quite active with his clemency pen at the start of his second term in the Oval Office. In fact, he granted multiple pardons in…
US Sentencing Commission starts new series of “Crime Victims Fact Sheets”
I was pleased to see a number of new items on the US Sentencing Commission’s website this morning, including the announcement of new “Crime Victims Fact Sheets.” The USSC website front page describes the new work as a new series…
Starting to gear up for lots of criminal law and sentencing cases during SCOTUS OT’25
Over at SCOTUSblog, Rory Little has this notable new post, titled “The hidden prevalence of criminal law at the Supreme Court.” which discusses that many “civil” cases taken up by the Justices have “criminal law implications.” That post looks…
“A Second Look at Second Look: Promoting Epistemic Justice in Resentencing”
The title of this post is the title of this new article recently posted to SSRN and authored by Katharine Skolnick. Here is its abstract:Despite an increasing number of critiques from many commentators-abolitionists, social scientists, and fiscal conservatives among them-mass…
Interesting discussion of “unnecessary rigor” clause in some state constitutions
A new essay here from the Behind The Bench Newsletter has LawProf Kristen Bell discussing her interesting historical work regarding an interesting limit on state powers in some state constitutions. The essay is worth a full read, and here are…
Lots of notable new and updated resources from the US Sentencing Commission
The US Sentencing Commission continue to keep busy over the dog days of summer as evidenced by this week’s publication of a bunch of new and updated reports on an array of federal sentencing topics. Here are the basics from…
New CCJ report on “Falling Through the Cracks: Gaps in Identifying Veterans on Community Supervision”
The Council on Criminal Justice is continuing to produce notable new reports on veterans and criminal justice systems. The latest CCJ report, available here, is titled “Falling Through the Cracks: Gaps in Identifying Veterans on Community Supervision.” Here is…
New York Times editorial board claims to know why crime is falling
The New York Times has this notable and lengthy editorial headlined “Crime Keeps Falling. Here’s Why.” There are a number of contestable and uncontestable claims in this editorial, but I am especially wary about any confident asertions about what we…
“Parole Futures: Rationalities, Institutions and Practices”
The title of this post is the title of this new book from Bloomsbury Publishing which brings together an extraordinary collection of authors looking at parole policy and practice from a wide array of perspectives. Here is how the publisher…