Sentencing/Post Conviction

Obama commutes sentences for 98 more prisoners, 42 of them lifers

President Barack Obama commuted 98 more sentences of federal prisoners, the White House announced on Thursday. According to a Department of Justice press release, all 98 recipients had been sentenced for drug crimes; some also had convictions for offenses that may be related to drugs, such as firearms possession and…

Oct 28, 2016 8:30 AM CDT

Pennsylvania’s former attorney general is sentenced to jail

Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane was sentenced to 10 to 23 months in jail on Monday for lying about her leak of grand jury documents. Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy also sentenced Kane to eight years of probation, report WTAE, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Pennlive.com. Kane had faced a maximum sentence…

Oct 24, 2016 2:56 PM CDT

Executions fall along with support for the death penalty; is capital punishment nearing an end?

Only 17 people have been executed so far this year, a 32 percent decline from the number of executions in the same period last year. The drop in the number of executions comes as support for the death penalty wanes, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req. ) reports. Last year…

Oct 24, 2016 11:49 AM CDT

Petition seeks ouster of judge who sentenced man to 60 days for incest with 12-year-old daughter

A Montana judge is defending his decision to sentence a man to 60 days in jail for incest with his 12-year-old daughter. An online petition at Change.org is criticizing the sentence and calling for impeachment of Judge John McKeon of Valley County, report the Washington Post, CBS News, the Associated…

Oct 19, 2016 9:12 AM CDT

Appeals court considers removal of Orange County DA’s office from case over misconduct allegations

A California appeals court considered arguments yesterday over whether an Orange County judge was right to remove the entire district attorney’s office from a high-profile case, the Orange County Register reported Tuesday. The oral arguments held yesterday in California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal revolved around allegations made by a…

Oct 18, 2016 2:25 PM CDT

Judge’s sarcasm was ‘unwarranted and wholly inappropriate,’ appeals court says

An Illinois appeals court has ordered a new trial before a new judge for a criminal defendant, citing the prosecutor’s opening statement and the trial judge’s “unwarranted and wholly inappropriate sarcasm” during a sentencing hearing. The court ruled (PDF) on Oct. 11 on behalf of Antonio Jones, who was convicted…

Oct 18, 2016 10:33 AM CDT

SCOTUS denies cert in case of death-row inmate whose lawyer relied on ‘remorse defense’; two dissent

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied certiorari in the case of a death-row inmate whose lawyer relied on a “remorse defense” rather than investigate the possibility of brain damage. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dissented (PDF) from the cert denial in the case of Clark…

Oct 17, 2016 3:03 PM CDT

Man is sentenced for acid attack on judge at his home

A former soldier was sentenced on Wednesday to 14 years and three months in prison for throwing acid in the face of a Washington judge who had issued a restraining order against him. Michael Martin, 36, was sentenced after pleading guilty last month to charges of first- and second-degree assault…

Oct 14, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Victim impact testimony can’t include sentencing recommendation, Supreme Court rules

The U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday that it has not overruled a decision that bars victims’ family members from recommending a death sentence, and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals was wrong to conclude it wasn’t bound by the decision. The Supreme Court’s per curiam decision (PDF) vacated the Oklahoma…

Oct 12, 2016 9:55 AM CDT

Obama commutes 102 more sentences, setting one-year record

President Barack Obama on Thursday commuted the sentences of 102 federal inmates, setting a record for the highest number of commutations in a single year.

Oct 7, 2016 8:16 AM CDT

Exonerated inmate’s $20M settlement is marital property in divorce, appeals court says

An exonerated inmate who married his wife while he was in prison can’t exclude his $20 million wrongful-conviction settlement from marital property, an Illinois appeals court has ruled. The Illinois Court of Appeals ruled in the case of Juan Rivera and Melissa Sanders-Rivera, the Chicago Tribune reports. Rivera had been…

Oct 6, 2016 2:43 PM CDT

SCOTUS considers reach of insider trading law; what if tipster derives no financial benefit?

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday considered whether insider trading includes tips on material, nonpublic information passed between relatives and friends, without any financial benefit to the insider providing the tip. Prosecutors argued that an insider who provides confidential information as a gift has received a personal benefit that can…

Oct 6, 2016 12:56 PM CDT

SCOTUS appears likely to rule for inmate whose expert said race could predict violence

The U.S. Supreme Court appears ready to rule on behalf of a death-row inmate whose own expert witness testified he is statistically more likely to be dangerous in the future because he is black. During oral arguments on Wednesday, the New York Times reports, “the only dispute among the justices…

Oct 6, 2016 11:31 AM CDT

Ex-con fights for prisoner rights and battles censorship

Prison Legal News persists—despite attempts to ban its circulation in prisons and jails—to fight for reform from the inside.

Oct 1, 2016 4:50 AM CDT

Former general counsel pleads guilty to robbing bank; he had been out of work

A former Pennsylvania lawyer who agreed to disbarment after his arrest in a bank robbery pleaded guilty in the case on Wednesday. The 58-year-old lawyer, Steven Cormier of Walnutport, was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to robbery, theft and receiving stolen property, the…

Sep 30, 2016 9:43 AM CDT