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The Myth Of The All-Powerful Federal Prosecutor At Sentencing, Adam M. Gershowitz
The Myth Of The All-Powerful Federal Prosecutor At Sentencing, Adam M. Gershowitz
St. John's Law Review
(Excerpt)
Prosecutors are widely considered to be the most powerful actors in the criminal justice system. And federal prosecutors are particularly feared. While some recent scholarship casts doubt on the power of prosecutors, the prevailing wisdom is that prosecutors run the show, with judges falling in line and doing as prosecutors recommend.
This Article does not challenge the proposition that prosecutors are indeed quite powerful, particularly with respect to sentencing. There are many structural advantages built into the system that combine to give prosecutors enormous influence over sentences. For example, prosecutors have considerable power to bring a slew of charges …
Revoking Supervised Release In The Age Of Legal Cannabis, Zachary J. Weiner
Revoking Supervised Release In The Age Of Legal Cannabis, Zachary J. Weiner
St. John's Law Review
(Excerpt)
Supervised release—part of the original sentence following a guilty verdict—is a system by which federal probation officers monitor prisoners released from federal prison. In imposing supervised release, sentencing judges set conditions that each supervisee must comply with, or risk reincarceration at the discretion of the sentencing judge. Certain conditions of supervised release are prescribed by statute and others are crafted by judges.
If a defendant violates the terms of supervised release by possessing cannabis products, the statutory regime provides the sentencing judge with two options: revoke the defendant’s supervised release and reincarcerate her or, alternatively, release the defendant from …
Important Is Not Important Enough: Forcibly Medicating Defendants For Sentencing Using The Important Interest Standard, Sarah Viebrock
Important Is Not Important Enough: Forcibly Medicating Defendants For Sentencing Using The Important Interest Standard, Sarah Viebrock
St. John's Law Review
(Excerpt)
This Note analyzes whether the Government’s interest in sentencing is the same as its interest in trial, and whether the “important interest” standard is a high enough threshold for the Government when it seeks to forcibly medicate a defendant for sentencing. This Note will conclude that because of the procedural alternatives to forcible medication at sentencing, the functional differences between trial and sentencing, and the spirit of the Supreme Court’s decision in Sell, the Government should be required to demonstrate a compelling, rather than an important, interest when it seeks to forcibly medicate a defendant for sentencing.
Part …