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Sentencing Federal Sentencing Guidelines

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Supreme Court Update - June 21, 2024

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The Supreme Court of the United States issued five decisions today: United States v. Rahimi, No. 22-915: This Second Amendment case addresses the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which makes it a crime for an...more

Zuckerman Spaeder LLP

UPDATE: The Imperative for Outlawing “Acquitted Conduct Sentencing”

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For too long, judges have been permitted at sentencing to consider anything they deem “relevant,” including allegations that were considered and rejected by a jury. So-called “acquitted conduct sentencing” clearly offends...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Sentencing Commission Rejects Actual Versus Intended Loss Distinction

The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines play an enormous role in federal sentencing. While courts are not required to follow the guidelines, the guidelines remain the starting point for determining a defendant’s ultimate sentence. For...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

“Not Guilty Means Not Guilty”: U.S. Sentencing Commission Unanimously Votes to Prohibit the Consideration of Acquitted Conduct in...

On April 17, 2024, the seven-member panel of the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to adopt an amendment prohibiting judges from using acquitted conduct in applying the federal sentencing guidelines. Previously, and consistent...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Sentencing Guidelines Amendment Prevents Judges From Considering Acquitted Conduct at Sentencing

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Watts, 19 US 148 (1997), judges have been permitted to consider acquitted conduct when calculating a defendant’s sentencing guidelines range and determining their...more

Zuckerman Spaeder LLP

The Imperative for Outlawing “Acquitted Conduct Sentencing”

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In federal court, “not guilty” doesn’t always mean no punishment. Under a quirk of federal sentencing law, judges are permitted to consider at sentencing anything that they consider relevant, including conduct for which a...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The Zero-Point Offender Adjustment: U.S. Sentencing Commission’s Proposed Amendment Gives Some First-Time Offenders a Break

The United States Sentencing Commission recently adopted amendments to its Guidelines Manual, and they include some noteworthy changes. The proposed amendments were submitted to Congress on April 27, 2023. Absent...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Supreme Court Update - June 16, 2023

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The Supreme Court of the United States issued two decisions today: United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc., No. 21-1052: This case concerned the scope of the government’s authority to dismiss a...more

Zuckerman Spaeder LLP

Sentences Based on Acquitted Conduct Will the Court Try Again?

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On Thursday, May 11, 2023 the Supreme Court will consider several petitions, presenting questions about whether and how federal judges can consider criminal conduct of which the defendant was acquitted in imposing sentence on...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Sentencing Guidelines Amendment Would Preclude Acquitted Conduct from Being Used at Sentencing

In what may come as a surprise to many, lawmakers across the political spectrum actually agree on at least one thing: the practice of sentencing federal defendants based on acquitted conduct has gone on long enough. Last...more

Thomas Fox - Compliance Evangelist

FCPA Compliance Report - Eric Morehead - The US Sentencing Guidelines at 30

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest-running podcast in compliance. In today's episode, I visit Eric Morehead, Director of Advisory Services at LRN, and discuss the US Sentencing Guidelines on the...more

BakerHostetler

Is This the Beginning of a Sentencing Revolution?

BakerHostetler on

Key Takeaways - ..The Third Circuit recently decided that the loss enhancement to the fraud guideline in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines applies only to “actual loss” and not to “intended loss.” ..While the primary...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

Groundbreaking Federal Sentencing Ruling

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

​​​​​​​On September 28, 2022, in United States v. Baskerville, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania held that Pennsylvania’s definition of cocaine is broader than the federal counterpart. ...more

Cozen O'Connor

Notice of Appeal - Summer 2021

Cozen O'Connor on

United States v. Yusuf (April 2, 2021), No. 19-3472 Unanimous decision: Jordan (writing), McKee, and Smith Concurrence: McKee Defendants pleaded guilty to their respective crimes and stipulated that they would not argue, at...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Predicting A Renewed Focus On White-Collar Crime Under President Biden’s DOJ

Fox Rothschild LLP on

During the 2020 campaign, former President Trump frequently called himself the “law and order president.” However, based upon a review of statistics from his time in office, his attention appears to have been focused on...more

Cozen O'Connor

Notice of Appeal - Winter 2021

Cozen O'Connor on

Precedential Opinions of Note - False Claims Act’s First-to-File Bar Permits Amended Complaint Adding New Relator - In re Plavix Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (No. II) (September 1, 2020), No....more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Year One of Trump’s DOJ: An Overview of the Four Major Categories of Offenders

Womble Bond Dickinson on

This article is the second in a series analyzing the Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics for Fiscal Year 2018, recently released by the United States Sentencing Commission. As discussed in our first article, the...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

District Court Sentences Former Speech Therapist to an Unexpected 111 Months for Healthcare Fraud in an Upward Departure

On November 20, 2018, former speech therapist Gena Randolph was sentenced to 111 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $580,937.44 on convictions of criminal healthcare fraud. This sentence is noteworthy in that it fell...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Court Restrains Improper Application of “Physical Restraint” Enhancement

In United States v. Paul, the Second Circuit (Newman and Pooler Circuit Judges, and Cote, J., by designation) issued an opinion interpreting the meaning of the phrase “physically restrained” during a commission of a crime for...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

United States v. Smith

The Second Circuit issued an amended opinion in United States v. Smith (Cabranes, Winter, Restani by designation). Both the original decision, which we covered on the blog earlier this year and the amended decision held that...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Circuit Holds That Pending State Counts Qualify as “Anticipated” Sentence for Purposes of Sentencing Guidelines on Concurrent...

Is a term of imprisonment “anticipated” if charges are pending but the defendant has not yet pled or been found guilty? In a per curiam decision, United States v. Olmeda, No. 15-3449 (Katzmann, Leval, and District Judge...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

No Shortcuts: District Court Must Calculate Guidelines Range Before Ruling on Sentencing Reduction Motion

In United States v. Brooks, the Court (Leval, Pooler, Hall) reiterated that district courts are required to calculate the applicable Sentencing Guidelines range when faced with a § 3582(c)(2) motion for a sentence reduction,...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Court Holds New York Second-Degree Robbery is Crime of Violence Under 2014 Sentencing Guidelines

In United States v. Smith, No. 15-3313-cr, the Second Circuit (Winter, Cabranes, Restani, sitting by designation) held that New York second-degree robbery is a “crime of violence” under § 4B1.2(a) of the 2014 United States...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Circuit Amends Decision Affirming Sentence Two Panel Members Deemed “Absurd,” Remands for Resentencing

On October 5, 2017 the Circuit published an amended opinion in United States v. Jones, No. 15-1518 (Walker, Calabresi, Hall), which supplanted a decision issued on September 11 that we covered in an earlier blog post. The...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Second Circuit Vacates Sentence that Erroneously Denied Acceptance of Responsibility Credit

In United States v. Delacruz, No. 15-4174, the Second Circuit (Kearse, Lohier, Droney) vacated a defendant’s sentence, holding that the district court’s findings supporting the defendant’s failure to accept responsibility...more

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