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Law Professor Blogs, LLC is the nation's only network of legal blogs edited primarily by law professors. Law Professor Blogs, LLC’s legal blogs are edited by over 100 law professors, deans, and lawyers. Editors include leading scholars and educators who are committed to providing the web source of legal news, information, commentary, and analysis for law professors, practitioners, government and nonprofit lawyers, and students in their respective fields. Most of the network’s blogs are owned by Law Professor Blogs, LLC. Several blogs are affiliates of the network.

Lots of advice on federal prisons for AG Barr and the new leadership at the Bureau of Prisons

By Douglas Berman on August 23, 2019

As reported here, this week started with Attorney General William Barr announcing the appointment Dr. Kathleen Hawk Sawyer as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Dr. Thomas R. Kane as the Deputy Director. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this development has prompted some folks to share advice on how federal prison system could be better run. Here is some of the discussion I have noticed: By Mark Holden via the Washington Examiner, “New …

Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform

“Restorative justice must begin with America’s pot POWs”

By Douglas Berman on August 23, 2019

The title of this post is the headline of this notable new commentary authored by Peter Maguire. Here are excerpts: Last month, American lawmakers, marijuana policymakers and industry leaders held a hearing on Capitol Hill about the future of marijuana legalization. While there was clear bipartisan support and even discussion……

Sentencing Law and Policy

Florida completes execution of serial killer, the “I-95 killer.”

By Douglas Berman on August 23, 2019

As reported in this AP piece, “Gary Ray Bowles, a serial killer who preyed on older gay men during an eight-month spree that left six dead, was executed by lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison.” Here is more: Bowles received the death penalty for the November 1994 murder of Walter Hinton in Jacksonville Beach. Hinton was Bowles’ sixth and final known victim in a series of killings in an eight-month span in 1994…

Sentencing Law and Policy

Sixth Circuit judge in separate opinion makes case for Eighth Amendment precluding execution of persons under 21 at time of murder

By Douglas Berman on August 22, 2019

A helpful reader made sure I saw the notable concurring opinion of Sixth Circuit Justice Stranch at the end of a panel opinion rejecting a capital defendant’s habeas appeal in Pike v. Gross, No. 16-5854 (6th Cir. Aug. 22, 2019) (available here). Here are the first and last paragraph of Judge Stranch’s opinion, which highlight who readers might want to check out what appears in between: I join the opinion in this case…

Sentencing Law and Policy

Terrific review of localities that are “Addicted to Fines”

By Douglas Berman on August 22, 2019

The latest (and sadly the last) issue of Governing magazine has this terrific lengthy cover story fully titled “Addicted to Fines: Small towns in much of the country are dangerously dependent on punitive fines and fees.” I recommend the full extended article, and here is how it gets started: Flashing police lights are a common sight all along Interstate 75 in rural south Georgia. On one recent afternoon in Turner County, sheriff’s deputies pulled…

Sentencing Law and Policy

Texas completes its fourth execution of year, this time of a defendant who persistently proclaimed his innocence

By Douglas Berman on August 21, 2019

As reported in this local article, headlined “‘Lord forgive ’em’: Larry Swearingen executed despite claims of innocence,” the state of Texas carried out an execution this evening. Here are some of the details: For two decades, Larry Ray Swearingen told anyone who would listen that he did not kill Melissa Trotter. He knew her, he said — but wasn’t the one who raped and strangled the 19-year-old college student before dumping her body among…

Sentencing Law and Policy

“How Do Prosecutors (and the Rest of Us) Get Sentencing So Wrong?”

By Douglas Berman on August 21, 2019

The title of this post is the title of this lengthy new commentary at The Crime Report authored by James Doyle. Here are excerpts: When enlightened prosecutors are forming Conviction Integrity Units to reassess old convictions, initiating Sentence Review Units to re-examine distended sentences would save money, and lead to the release of prisoners who are no longer dangerous. It’s a very good idea, even if the problem is not as simple as it might seem. …

Sentencing Law and Policy

Rounding up some responses to AG Barr’s swipe at progressive prosecutors

By Douglas Berman on August 21, 2019

As noted in this prior post, Attorney General William Barr delivered these extended remarks to a police conference last week which included sharply negative comments about progressive prosecutors who, in AG Barr’s words, “spend their time undercutting the police, letting criminals off the hook, and refusing to enforce the law.” Not surprisingly, lots of folks were put off by AG Barr’s comments and here are just a few pieces I have noticed with reactions…

Sentencing Law and Policy

Noticing the tendency for criminal justice reforms to become a scapegoat for all sorts of crime concerns

By Douglas Berman on August 21, 2019

One of the many challenges of engineering enduring criminal justice reforms can be the tendency of some folks to attribute any new crime concerns or problems (or perceived new concerns or problems) as a harmful consequence of reforms. All sorts of crimes and crimes rates fluctuate for all sort of reasons, but all to often there is a tendency to want to blame any significant reforms for any new crime issues even when there is…

Sentencing Law and Policy

“The Thirteenth Amendment: Modern Slavery, Capitalism, and Mass Incarceration”

By Douglas Berman on August 21, 2019

The title of this post is the title of this new paper now available via SSRN authored by Michele Goodwin. Here is its abstract: The Article makes two conceptual contributions. First, it tells a story about the Thirteenth Amendment forbidding one form of slavery while legitimating and preserving others. Of course, the text does not operate absent important actors: legislatures and courts. Yet, as explained by Reva Siegel, despite “repeated condemnation of slavery,” such united…

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Lots of advice on federal prisons for AG Barr and the new leadership at the Bureau of Prisons

“Restorative justice must begin with America’s pot POWs”

Florida completes execution of serial killer, the “I-95 killer.”

Sixth Circuit judge in separate opinion makes case for Eighth Amendment precluding execution of persons under 21 at time of murder

Terrific review of localities that are “Addicted to Fines”

Texas completes its fourth execution of year, this time of a defendant who persistently proclaimed his innocence

“How Do Prosecutors (and the Rest of Us) Get Sentencing So Wrong?”

Rounding up some responses to AG Barr’s swipe at progressive prosecutors

Noticing the tendency for criminal justice reforms to become a scapegoat for all sorts of crime concerns

“The Thirteenth Amendment: Modern Slavery, Capitalism, and Mass Incarceration”

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