Hill v. United States (11-5721) Fair Sentencing Act and Crack Cocaine cases before and after its implementation are going to get their day in the Supreme Court! Great news today from the United States Supreme Court. With a split in Circuit Court decisions regarding application of Crack Cocaine Sentencing Guideline reductions from the Fair Sentencing …
Supreme Court Grants Cert. to FSA Pipeline Issue Read More »
From Crack Cocaine Sentence Reductions to Early Termination of Supervised Release November has been a big month in the world of federal corrections. Due to all the recent events, this will be a lengthy post on all matters federal-criminal. New Retroactive Crack Law The United States Sentencing Commission’s 2011 Amendments to their Guidelines Manual were …
PCR Consultants Has Published a Book(let)! Many of the calls we get here at PCR Consultants are about the November 1, 2011 Sentencing Guidelines Manual Amendment regarding crack cocaine sentence reductions. The first question potential clients ask is about eligibility. Who is eligible? What makes or breaks eligibility? As part of our services to families …
Senator Webb’s Ambitious Plan Shot Down In a disheartening turn of events Senator Webb (D-Va.), a long-time supporter of criminal justice reform in the United States Senate, had his bill shot down. The bill in question would have established a commission to review and propose changes to the criminal justice system in America. The title …
Republicans Block Justice Reform Proposal in Senate Read More »
New 2011 Amendments from U.S.S.C. With October upon us, and November first rapidly approaching, PCR Consultants is starting a yearly tradition of breaking down this year’s amendments to the United States Sentencing Guidelines as published by the US Sentencing Commission (U.S.S.C.). Each year, these amendments become active on the first day of November. To find …
Why the Circuits and U.S. Supreme Court Need to Delegate More Effectively In a recent Ninth Circuit decision, judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain wrote a 10-page concurring opinion on a moot finding. In this opinion, O’Scannlain lectured the judge from the lower court (Hon. Judge Phillips: Central District of California [Riverside]) and the rest of the …
Does a Letter Before Sentencing Help? In many cases, a defense attorney will encourage his or her client to write their judge before sentencing to humanize a defendant. Judges receive many of these such letters. So many, in fact, that they can lose their potency with the Court. Every defendant is a person. They are …
Crack Cocaine Sentence Reductions – Retroactivity It is fairly common knowledge at this point that the United States Sentencing Commission has made their Sentencing Guideline Manual reductions for crack cocaine sentences retroactive. However, this policy has raised quite a few questions regarding how it works and who it helps. This article is meant to clear …
Obama Administration Investigations At a record-setting pace, the Department of Justice is currently conducting 17 separate investigations to determine whether law enforcement officers are guilty of brutality or discrimination against minorities. This, as reported by the Washington Post, is the highest number of such investigations at one time in American history. The excerpt below highlights …
Overcrowding and Poor Conditions Jefferson County, AL – According to a story from The Birmingham News, lawyers for inmates John Mason IV and Ishmael Gregory filed a federal lawsuit in Birmingham, Alabama alleging inhumane conditions in the county jails in Jefferson County. The basis for the lawsuit is the standard “Deliberate indifference of government officials” …
