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The "Same Criminal Conduct" Exception Of The Washington Sentencing Reform Act: Making The Punishment Fit The Crimes—State V. Collicott, 112 Wash. 2d 399, 771 P.2d 1137 (1989), Joseph P. Bennett
Washington Law Review
Under the Washington Sentencing Reform Act (SRA), two or more offenses committed in one transaction count as criminal history for the purpose of enhancing the sentence for each offense, unless the offenses encompass the "same criminal conduct." In State v. Collicott, the Washington Supreme Court held that offenses that share statutory elements constitute the same criminal conduct. The court's previous approach in State v. Dunaway focused on whether one crime furthered another. Analysis demonstrates that Dunaway better provides for proportionate sentences, and coupled with the merger doctrine, adequately prevents double punishment. Thus, the Washington Legislature should amend the SRA to …
"The Judge Would Then Be The Legislator": Dismantling Separation Of Powers In The Name Of Sentencing Reform—Mistretta V. United States, 109 S. Ct. 647 (1989), Kristin L. Timm
Washington Law Review
In the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 Congress created the United States Sentencing Commission, an independent agency in the judicial branch charged with promulgating binding sentencing guidelines for federal crimes. In Mistretta v. United States, the Supreme Court held that the Sentencing Reform Act does not violate separation of powers principles. This Note asserts that the Court misapplied separation of powers theory, and that the Sentencing Commission violates separation of powers in two ways. First, by delegating to the judicial branch the authority to create sentencing guidelines which have the effect of law, Congress impermissibly aggrandized the core function of …