Here the court categorically rejected the “new” 18:1 ratio that Congress has adopted for crack cocaine crimes, after noting that the Govt had been unable to present “a single scintilla of . . . evidence" to justify any differential for crack offenses.

For years, Judge Bennett has been one of ...

[Editor's Note: For a commentary on this decision, see "First Circuit thoughtfully talks through inapplicability of new FSA minimums on appeal," by Prof. Doug Berman, as posted on Sentencing Law and Policy on April 29, 2011 at http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2011/04/first-circuit-thoughtfully-talks-through-inapplicability-of-new-fsa-minimums-on-appeal.html as follows:

The First Circuit has a thoughtful discussion of its view ...

Here the Court held that a district court’s decision to sentence a defendant, who was convicted of one count of possession of child pornography, to a lifetime term of supervised release was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable.

Daniel Apodaca pled guilty to a single count of possession of child pornography ...

This is not just another brilliant sentencing decision authored by Judge Weinstein; it is also a powerful and unforgiving indictment of many of America’s drug sentencing laws, particularly the growing web of mandatory minimum sentences that now control some 40% of all non-immigration sentences imposed in the United States. Equally ...

Here a divided panel held that the district court’s reliance on the defendant’s inability to pay restitution as an aggravating sentencing factor in support of its decision to impose an upward departure was plain error that required reversal.

Joseph Case Burgum pled guilty to two counts of armed bank robbery ...

In 2008, Wickett Morris was indicted on charges of possessing more than fifty grams of crack cocaine with intent to distribute it within 1000 feet of a public housing authority, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 860(a). Because Morris had been convicted, in 1997, of a felony drug ...

In U.S. v. Slough, 677 F.Supp.2d 112 (D.D.C. Apr. 10, 2010) (P&J, Dec. 7, 2009), we noted that Judge Ricardo Urbina had dismissed all charges against five Blackwater guards who had been charged with various crimes, including manslaughter and weapons charges, arising out of the massacre of 17 civilians in ...

For a commentary on this decision, see "A judge blasts the Court: A senior federal Circuit judge bitterly assails the Supreme Court for its 2008 ruling in a major Guantanamo case, and suggests the Court lacks courage to take responsibility for the aftermath in lower courts. He also targets the ...

District Judge J. Phil Gilbert of the S.D.Ill. had a “general policy” of routinely refusing to grant any motions, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(1), for early termination of supervised release, unless and until the defendant had 12 months or less remaining on his term of supervised release. In this ...

Here the Court held that while U.S.S.G. § 1B1.8 prohibits the use of proffer statements in determining the applicable guideline range, there “appears to be" no similar ban on other uses of such statements such as determining the specific sentence.

Proffer agreements have long been the bane of many criminal ...