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Full-Text Articles in Law
No Change In Sight For Sentencing Guidelines, Wes R. Porter
No Change In Sight For Sentencing Guidelines, Wes R. Porter
Publications
In the post-Booker era, the commission must reinvent itself to provide a useful tool for the courts in determining punishment, explains Wes Reber Porter of Golden Gate University School of Law.
The Pendulum In Federal Sentencing Can Also Swing Toward Predictability: A Renewed Role For Binding Plea Agreements Post-Booker, Wes R. Porter
The Pendulum In Federal Sentencing Can Also Swing Toward Predictability: A Renewed Role For Binding Plea Agreements Post-Booker, Wes R. Porter
Publications
This article argues that in addition to the swing toward increased judicial discretion and overall lower sentences, the pendulum also can swing toward predictability and informed decision making for the defendant. The federal sentencing scheme must allow a defendant to pursue, negotiate, and contract for what the defendant believes is a uniform, proportional, and fair sentence. Increased use of binding plea agreements in federal court could complement the progressive developments following Booker and restore some predictability and informed decision making to federal sentencing. However, without significant rule, policy, and perception changes, like those proposed in Part VI of this article, …
Race Disparity Under Advisory Guidelines: Dueling Assessments And Potential Responses, Ryan W. Scott
Race Disparity Under Advisory Guidelines: Dueling Assessments And Potential Responses, Ryan W. Scott
Articles by Maurer Faculty
Dueling studies of race disparity, one by the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC, 2010) and an alternative analysis published in this issue by Ulmer, Light, and Kramer (2011), diverge sharply in their methodological choices and in their characterization of trends in federal sentencing. The Commission’s study suggests a marked increase in race disparity, differences in sentencing outcomes between racial groups that cannot be explained by controlling for relevant nonrace factors, after the Supreme Court’s decisions in United States v. Booker (2005) and Gall v. United States (2007). Those decisions rendered the federal Sentencing Guidelines advisory and set a highly deferential standard …