The Alternative to CORI Reform: Let's Just Order Them to Re-Offend

Thanks to John Monahan and the Worcester Telegram and Gazette for an excellent article yesterday about the fact that CORI reform is now unlikely. The CORI reform proposals, introduced and backed by Governor Patrick, and as discussed and strongly supported by me here at this blog,have run aground in the House Judiciary Committee, and the chances of the law covering criminal records being reformed

Incarceration Nation

The New York Times yesterday published a good basic primer on a most embarrassing type of American Exceptionalism, i.e., America as Incarceration Nation: Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations’ - New York Times. The first part of the article, written by Adam Liptak, is excerpted below:"The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the

Bobby Brown and Incarceration Nation

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette News got it spot-on in its editorial today about the sweet, strange deal Bobby Brown received in Brockton District Court. It's almost as if the Telegram read my eerily similar post on this subject from several days ago. Let's just say we are definitely on the same page here. I would now just add that we should ask ourselves how it is that Bobby Brown is actually

Bobby Brown - Do We Want Him Here or Not?

As just reported here in Boston - see Boston Globe: Bobby Brown agrees to community service and Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog: Singer Bobby Brown Forgoes Jail Time for Community Service Over Alleged Cocaine Possession - Bobby Brown will now do community service here after being arrested for alleged drug possession, per the terms of disposition in a Brockton District Court criminal matter. Wait a

Arizona Republicans, Drug Abuse, and Hypocrisy

QUESTION: What do John McCain and the late former Chief Judge William Rehnquist have in common besides that they were both Republican political hacks from Arizona? (Oh, did you think Rehnquist was just our former Supreme Court Chief? Well, he had a not-so-well-known role as a Republican hack challenging Hispanic and African-American Democratic voters in Phoenix, long before he became the

Federal Judges in Massachusetts Are Releasing Crack Offenders After Sentences Were Retroactively Reduced

As reported a few days ago in the Boston Globe, federal judges in Massachusetts are now releasing several prison inmates pursuant to the federal government's retroactive reduction in sentences for crack offenders. If you read this Boston Globe article, you should know that the newspaper yesterday issued a correction to point out that its headline and first paragraph inaccurately stated that the

Great Article on Recent Federal Sentencing Developments

I have recently commented on the US Supreme Court and the US Sentencing Commission's recent positive moves in the area of sentencing for crack cocaine offenders in posts last week and last month. But finally, on Wednesday, Mark Allenbaugh, an expert in the field of federal criminal sentencing, has published an article on Findlaw.com which is a must-read for those interested in the topic:

Starting to Make Sense in Sentencing Crack Offenders: Supreme Court & Sentencing Commission Do Some Good

Both the US Supreme Court and the US Sentencing Commission did some good things this week, and are helping to move our federal system a bit closer to sanity in the treatment of federal drug offenders. However, draconian mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses remain, and we will continue to spend lots of tax dollars to lock up lots of people in this country for a long time. Don't think too

Sentencing Guidelines Revised for Crack Cocaine Offenses, New York Times Reports

Crack cocaine offenses now carry a reduced point value in the US Sentencing Guidelines, after revised sentencing guidelines just went into effect this past week, guidelines that will shorten somewhat the ridiculously long sentences for federal crack cocaine crimes and that will move us a bit closer to the goal of fairness for crack cocaine offenders vis-à-vis powder cocaine offenders. Let's hope