Topic
Sentencing
11,928 published works
A Lawyer Writes
Killers denied early release
Hundreds more prisoners will be excluded from planned early-release schemes, the prime minister announced yesterday. The changes will now apply to those convicted in England and Wales ofall forms of…
Criminal Jurisdiction
Federal Sentencing: Why Allocution Matters More Than You Think
By Rebeca.pirela@alphacomarketing.com
If you’ve ever sat through a federal sentencing hearing, you’ve probably noticed something: judges tend to lean in more when the defendant is talking than when the lawyers are. Sentencing…
Federal Defenders of New York Blog
Section 404(b) of the First Step Act reaches back only to the Fair Sentencing Act’s crack-quantity thresholds and does not carry § 401, narrowing the definition of § 841’s triggering predicates, with it.
By FDNY Staff
United States v. VanHoesen, No. 24-2692 (2d Cir. Aug. 24, 2026) (Cabranes, Livingston (writing), Menashi).The Second Circuit affirmed VanHoesen’s sentence of time served and eight years of supervised release, imposed…
Federal Defenders of New York Blog
Sentencing court plainly erred by (1) crossing the “fine line” between declining leniency for a defendant’s silence and punishing him for it; and (2) varying upward on facts already accounted by the Guidelines
By FDNY Staff
United States v. Bagley, No. 25-606 (2d Cir. Aug. 24, 2026) (Sullivan, Bianco, Robinson (writing); Sullivan, J., dissenting).The Second Circuit vacated Stefan Bagley’s 84-month sentence for firearm trafficking conspiracy under…
California Appellate Report
U.S. v. Aguilera (9th Cir. – Aug. 24, 2026)
By Shaun Martin
According to this opinion, when a 27-year veteran judge in the Northern District of California, a graduate of Harvard Law School, was told that the federal sentences guidelines allow a…
A Lawyer Writes
The terrorist connection
A senior circuit judge has dismissed as “without merit” an argument that defendants charged with criminal damage should have been warned that terrorism might be treated as an aggravating factor…
A Lawyer Writes
Flaw in the IPP system
An offender who spent nearly 18 years in prison as the result of a legal error has been freed by the Court of Appeal. Niki Dean Haycock had been given…
San Francisco Criminal Lawyer Blog
Partial Habeas Relief Does Not Require Full Resentencing Review
People v. Esquivias (Cal., Aug. 17, 2026, No. S286371) 2026 WL 2386584, at *1–10 Summary: A habeas corpus court has broad equitable authority to craft relief “as the justice of…
Legal Bites
Delhi Judicial Services Mains 2023 Previous Year Paper (Criminal Law)
Candidates preparing for Delhi Judicial Services should solve the Delhi Judicial Services Mains 2023 Previous Year Paper and other previous year question papers before they face Prelims and Mains.Additionally, it…
Journal of The Missouri Bar
Taxes in your practice: 10th Circuit upholds dentist’s prison term for tax scheme
Scott E. Vincent is the founding member of Vincent Law, LLC in Kansas City.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit recently affirmed a 41-month prison sentence imposed on…