Sentencing Law and Policy

Bad news for hard-core death penalty fans: Judy Clarke joins defense team for Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

As reported in this new AP piece, "Judy Clarke is joining the team representing the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings."  Here is more of the basics of federal public defender Clarke's appointment:

The appointment of Clarke, based in San Diego, Calif., was approved Monday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler. Bowler denied a request from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s public defender to appoint a second death penalty lawyer.  Bowler says Tsarnaev’s lawyers could renew their motion to appoint another death penalty expert if Tsarnaev is indicted....

Clarke’s clients have included Unabomber Ted Kaczynski; Susan Smith, who drowned her two children; and most recently Tucson, Ariz., shooter Jared Loughner.  All received life sentences instead of the death penalty.

Not quite coincidentally, this distinct AP piece from last week provided a little bit of a profile of Clarke and her work, and it highlighted her ability to working out plea deals with prosecutors that serve to spare her clients from facing the death penalty.  Not listed in this latest AP article is Clarke's representation of Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolf, whose crimes and motivation are arguably most comparable to what it seems we so far know about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s crimes and purported motives.  As with the federal mass murderers Kaczynski and Loughner, Clarke helped secure an LWOP plea deal with Rudolf to save his life.

I mused in this post a couple of weeks ago when Tsarnaev was first captured that "as in the case of the Unibomber and the Tucson shooter and other notorious federal mass murderers, I would not be surprised if eventually capital charges are taken off the table for a guaranteed LWOP sentence in exchange for a guilty plea."  The appointment of Clarke prompts me to now turn my musings into a prediction: I think the odds are now pretty good that, after a fair bit of (costly?) legal wranging over the next few months or years, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will plead guilty and get sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. 

Some related recent posts:

• Horrific crime with uncertain responsibility and uncertain punishment on Patriots' Day in Boston
• Can the new media help identify the two persons the FBI are seeking in the Boston bombings?
• Spotting punishment and victims' rights issues after capture of Boston bombing suspect #2, Dzhokar Tsarnaev
• Does Boston bombing provide still more support for my federal-only death penalty perspective?
• "Balancing the State and Federal Roles in Boston Bomber Case"

UPDATE:  Just moments after click "Publish" on this post, I saw this interesting new commentary by Mark Osler at MSNBC headlined "Sentence the Boston bomber to meaninglessness." The piece contends that LWOP may be the best "punishment" in this case in these interesting terms:

[W]hat someone like Tsarnaev probably fears most is meaninglessness. He is typical of terrorists, in that he is a young man of little accomplishment who chose to make his mark on the world through a terrible act.  For someone like Tsarnaev, and many others like him, the real fear is a life of being unimportant.  The evidence of that is already clear, given that he chose a path of carnage and destruction, with the high risk of death that comes with all that, rather than to continue life as a nondescript college student.

Fortunately, the alternative to execution in the federal system is precisely what Tsarnaev seems to fear: utter meaninglessness.

Technically, the sentence is called life without parole (there is no parole in the federal system for any sentence).  However, more than anything, it is a sentence to an existence without notice or meaning, to live out one’s life without the deep interactions with the world that inspire people to great and terrible acts.  It begins with being assigned a number which largely replaces one’s name, and it ends with an unnoticed death, rather than the burst of attention that accompanies an execution.

"Passive Pedophiles: Are child porn viewers less dangerous than we thought?"

The title of this post is the headline of this notable recent commentary by Emily Bazelon at Slate. Here are excerpts:

Making child pornography is abuse.  What about possessing it? As a group, these offenders — the ones who look but don’t abuse children to create new images — are serving increasingly long prison sentences. In 2004, the average sentence for possessing child pornography was about 4 ½ years. In 2010, it was almost eight years.  Child sex offenders may also be kept in prison beyond their release dates through “civil commitment” if the state deems that they’ll have “serious difficulty in refraining from sexually violent conduct or child molestation if released.”

It’s hard to feel concern for people (mostly men) who prowl the Internet for sexually abusive images of children, some of whom are very young.  Their crimes aren’t “victimless,” as defense lawyers sometimes argue.  These men create the market for new images.  They are the demand behind the supply.  I’ve written about how hard it is for women who were abused and photographed as girls to know that men are still viewing, and taking pleasure in, the record of their suffering — and about the victims’ efforts to win restitution from these men.

But the main reason Congress has upped the penalties for men who possess child pornography is the deep-seated belief that many of them physically abuse children and that they are highly likely to keep doing so because they can’t stop themselves.  Is that true? I’ve heard it so many times it’s hard to think otherwise.  Yet that premise is contested in a new 468-page report by the U.S. Sentencing Commission (the body Congress established to advise it about federal sentencing law).  The commission did its own research.  It says the federal sentencing scheme for child pornography offenses is out of date and argues that this leads to penalties that “are too severe for some offenders and too lenient for other offenders.”...

This isn’t an easy subject.  Punishments for sex offenders move only in one direction in this country — they get harsher.  But the Sentencing Commission’s critique should get a serious hearing.  Prison comes with a cost for taxpayers as well as the people it incarcerates.  And if there’s increasing hope for effective treatment, as the commission suggests, investing in it could save kids....

Maybe men convicted of possessing child pornography probably reoffend more than the researchers can measure because they don’t tell.  Surely they commit more new crimes than the number they get arrested for, as the commission is careful to say.  The question is how many more.  Do they really pose a different risk in this regard than other criminals do?  The Justice Department “takes issue” with the commission’s conclusions about recidivism and the link between viewing pornography of children and molesting them. These questions won’t be resolved any time soon.  In the meantime, Congress could fix the aspects of child pornography sentencing that both DOJ and the Sentencing Commission see as broken.

Months before scheduled sentencing, lawyers buzzing about Jesse Jackson Jr.'s mental health

As highlighted in this story about a hearing in a high-profile federal case in DC, "prosecutors raised the prospect on Friday in court of having their experts examine former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. if his lawyers plan to raise his bipolar disorder as a mitigating factor in trying to reduce his prison sentence." Here is more:

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson made no decision after prosecutor Matt Graves said he wanted to “alert” her to the possible issue in advance of the sentencing July 1 of Jackson and his wife, former Ald. Sandi Jackson.  The two pled guilty in February to looting $750,000 from campaign funds for personal use.

Judge Jackson asked for the hearing because she is taking over the case after U.S. District Court Judge Robert Wilkins — who handled the pleas of the couple — withdrew without explanation from the case.

Graves said the government is “entitled” to have Jackson checked “by our own experts” if Jackson’s lawyers decide to argue Jackson’s mental health should be taken into consideration by the judge when she sentences him.

Defense attorney Reid Weingarten told Judge Jackson that the former congressman’s bipolar disorder is well known and “not controversial.”  Weingarten also said they do not intend to argue that Jackson’s “criminal activity” was caused by his mental illness.  The former congressman was hospitalized at Mayo Clinic last year for treatment of bipolar depression.

Judge Jackson — who consolidated two separate sentencing dates into one morning July 1 sentencing session for the couple — had nothing before her to rule on, since the defense lawyers have yet to show their hand.  The judge signaled that the former congressman’s mental state may be a factor for her, since she said she was required to consider “who he is as a person.”

Recent related posts:

• You be the prosecutor: what federal sentence should be sought for Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife?
• Jacksons plead guilty and federal prosecutors recommend significant prison terms for both
• Noteworthy new lawyer and now a new judge for Jesse Jackson Jr. sentencing

"Four female prison guards impregnated by same inmate"

The headline of this post is arguably the most sensational facet of a huge federal corruption prosecution this week emerging from the jail system in Baltimore, Maryland.  The basics are reported in this story:

Four female prison guards in Baltimore fell pregnant to the same inmate, according to authorities who have busted a major smuggling gang inside the jail system. Two of the women tattooed the inmate's name on their bodies and he showered three of

The four women are among 25 people who face federal charges, including 13 female prison guards, CBS Baltimore reports. The scheme involved smuggling drugs and cell phones into Baltimore City Detention Center.

U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said the 25 defendants participated in running the activities of the Black Guerilla Family - a prison and street gang - from behind bars in Baltimore City. Thirteen female corrections officers, seven inmates and five alleged co-conspirators are charged with racketeering, money laundering and possession with the intent to distribute....

The affidavit says the corrections officers helped members of the notorious Black Guerilla Family gang smuggle cell phones, marijuana, prescription pills and cigarettes into the jail to sell to other inmates and make thousands of dollars. "This situation enabled BGF members to continue to run their criminal enterprise within the jail and the streets of Baltimore," said Steve Vogt, FBI....

The indictment says the ringleader, inmate Tavon White, reportedly made $16,000 in one month from the smuggled contraband.

Four corrections officers-Jennifer Owens, Katera Stevenson, Chania Brooks and Tiffany Linder, who are also facing charges -- allegedly fell pregnant to White while he was behind bars. Charging documents reveal Owens had "Tavon" tattooed on her neck and Stevenson had "Tavon" tattooed on her wrist....

Secretary of Public Safety & Correctional Services Gary Maynard said he was taking full responsibility. "It becomes embarrassing for me when we expose ourselves and we participate in an investigation that's going to show what's going on in our jails that I am not proud of," he said.

This press release from the Maryland U.S. Attorney's office concerning the indictments has a little extra fun with the most prurient aspects of this sordid story in its heading: "Correctional Officers Smuggled in Cell Phones and Drugs and Were 'in Bed' with BGF Inmates."  And though this story is hardly a laughing matter, I hope readers will forgive me after a few weeks of very serious news if I encourage commentors to perhaps add some additional levity by suggesting alternative headlines for this notable new federal corruption case.

"Balancing the State and Federal Roles in Boston Bomber Case"

The title of this post is the headline of this new article via Stateline, and here are some excerpts that reinforce my sense that at least some Masschusetts officials are quite pleased the feds have taken over the initial prosecution in this case because of the availability of the death penalty:

It’s not clear that anyone in Massachusetts is objecting to a potential death sentence in the bombings that killed three and injured hundreds, and in fact, a bipartisan group of lawmakers filed a bill Tuesday to reinstate the death penalty.  “What if he were not going to be federally charged?” said Republican Rep. Shaunna O’Connell in an interview with the Boston Globe.  “In Massachusetts, there would be no death penalty for him.”

The federal interest in the case against Tsarnaev is national security and the so far, state and federal authorities are cooperating.  There’s no federalism ground for the state of Massachusetts to object to a death sentence, said Robert Chesney, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, since the federal charge carries a federal death sentence.  The final decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made by Attorney General Eric Holder.

Currently, the state does not plan to introduce state charges against Tsarnaev, said Jake Wark, press secretary for the Suffolk County district attorney who handles all violent crime in Boston.  Wark said that in the first few hours after the explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office was responsible for the case and handled it like any triple murder investigation.  But after the call came from Washington late Monday afternoon, the district attorney’s office deferred to the United States Attorney’s Office to proceed with the terrorism investigation.

Gov. Deval Patrick has been silent on the issue since the bombings, but said in 2005, “The death penalty can never be made foolproof, it is not a deterrent, and the huge costs incurred in capital proceedings divert resources away from actually fighting and prosecuting crime.”

So far in the investigation, federal, state and local authorities have worked together nearly seamlessly.  David Laufman, a former federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, said that is the result of 10 years of relationship building between the FBI and state and local law enforcement.  In Boston, the joint terrorism task force, headed by the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI but also staffed with state and local officers, is taking the lead in the investigation.

“The FBI took some lumps in the 9/11 era for big-footing state and local law enforcement in national security and in other cases,” said Laufman, “but the FBI’s made a concerted effort to improve state and local relationships and now there are much better working relationships for the FBI to work in cases like this.”

Some related recent posts:

• Horrific crime with uncertain responsibility and uncertain punishment on Patriots' Day in Boston
• Can the new media help identify the two persons the FBI are seeking in the Boston bombings?
• Spotting punishment and victims' rights issues after capture of Boston bombing suspect #2, Dzhokar Tsarnaev
• Does Boston bombing provide still more support for my federal-only death penalty perspective?

SCOTUS holds "social sharing" of a little pot not an "aggravated felony" under INA

In a 7-2 opinion handed down this morning in Moncrieffe v. Holder (available here), the Supreme Court explains why a low-level marijuana offense does not automatically mean deportation. Here is the first and last paragraph of the majority opinion (per Justice Sotomayor):

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 66 Stat. 163, 8 U. S. C. §1101 et seq., provides that a noncitizen who has been convicted of an “aggravated felony” may be deported from this country.  The INA also prohibits the Attorney General from granting discretionary relief from removal to an aggravated felon, no matter how compelling his case.  Among the crimes that are classified as aggravated felonies, and thus lead to these harsh consequences, are illicit drug trafficking offenses.  We must decide whether this category includes a state criminal statute that extends to the social sharing of a small amount of marijuana.  We hold it does not....

This is the third time in seven years that we have considered whether the Government has properly characterized a low-level drug offense as “illicit trafficking in a controlled substance,” and thus an “aggravated felony.”  Once again we hold that the Government’s approach defies “the ‘commonsense conception’” of these terms.  Carachuri-Rosendo, 560 U.S., at ___ (slip op., at 9) (quoting Lopez, 549 U. S., at 53).  Sharing a small amount of marijuana for no remuneration, let alone possession with intent to do so, “does not fit easily into the ‘everyday understanding’” of “trafficking,” which “‘ordinarily . . . means some sort of commercial dealing.’”  Carachuri-Rosendo, 560 U.S., at ___ (slip op., at 9) (quoting Lopez, 549 U.S., at 53–54).  Nor is it sensible that a state statute that criminalizes conduct that the CSA treats as a misdemeanor should be designated an “aggravated felony.”  We hold that it may not be.  If a noncitizen’s conviction for a marijuana distribution offense fails to establish that the offense involved either remuneration or more than a small amount of marijuana, the conviction is not for an aggravated felony under the INA.  The contrary judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Justices Thomas and Alito both authored separate dissents, though neither garner any companion votes.

Sixth Circuit panel finds reasonable 30-day contempt sentence for courtroom cell phone use by observer

The sentencing component of this local Ohio article caught my attention based on the headline "Tweeting and texting earns Cleveland man contempt of court charge, 30 days in jail." Here are the basics:

Cell phones are routinely used in classrooms and bathrooms — sometimes even in churches.  But not in federal courtrooms, where all electronic devices are banned.  But that didn’t stop Maurtez Prince, 22, of Cleveland, from trying to sneak in a few tweets and texts last year during a buddy’s sentencing hearing at the U.S. District Courthouse in Akron.

Prince will be able to contemplate his crime from behind jail bars, where he will spend 30 days for contempt of court.

On May 31, the day of the friend’s sentencing, an assistant U.S. marshal spotted Prince using his cell phone in the courtroom and ordered him to turn it off, according to court documents. Later, the marshal again caught Prince texting and confiscated the phone.

Then, when Prince went to reclaim his phone, the marshal pointed out the three signs outside the courtroom banning cell phones and any cameras or recording devices, the court documents state.  That’s when Prince admitted having photographed his friend with the phone.

When U.S. District Judge John Adams heard about the incident he ordered Prince to appear before him and explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt.  Prince argued that he had not deliberately defied a court order against cell phones or taking photographs, his lawyer said.  He claimed he hadn’t seen the signs, and had misunderstood the marshal, believing he simply had to silence his phone.  "Mr. Prince was very apologetic to the judge and the marshal for what he did," said Assistant Federal Public Defender Edward Bryan. "He wasn’t cocky at all. It was his first time in federal court and he didn’t understand the seriousness of his actions."

But Adams was not persuaded and found Prince guilty, stating that "the most troubling part" of the crime was that Prince had continued using his phone after he had been ordered to stop.  Adams sentenced Prince to 30 days in jail, but allowed him to remain free pending an appeal.

On Friday, a three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati released a six-page opinion affirming Adams’s sentence. Judge Deborah Cook wrote that Prince demonstrated "willful disobedience" and that "ample evidence supports the district court’s contempt finding."

A sentence of a month in jail for use of a cell phone in a courtroom struck me as quite severe, but the unpublished Sixth Circuit panel opinion in US v. Prince, No. 12-3789 (6th Cir. April 19, 2013) (available here), suggests to me there may be a lot more to the story. Specifically, the panel opinion highlights that Prince has a significant criminal history and that he may have been doing something quite nefarious when seeking to take pictures and send texts during another's federal sentencing proceedings.  In other words, after reading the panel opinion in Prince, I was less troubled by the decision to sentence this defendant to a month in lock-up for his contempt of court.

But I remain curious and uncertain as to whether there are perhaps some First Amendment implications here given that the courtroom Prince was in was not sealed and that sentencings are generally to be public proceedings.  I presume the First Amendment would generally preclude a courtroom spectator from being punished for writing/reporting on-line (say on a blog) about a public federal sentencing while that spectator has moved into the hallways of a public courthouse. Should I just view the courtroom ban/punishment here a proper time, place, manner restriction on the First Amendment, or do others agree there might be some important constitutional issues here?

Lots of death penalty headlines in wake of capture of one Boston bomber

Just as has taken place on this blog (via comments to this post), there is now lots and lots of media buzzing about seeking the death penalty for surviving boston bomber Dzhokar Tsarnaev.  Here are some of the headlines and stories from various sources that caught my eye via Google news this morning:

• "Accused Boston Marathon bomber will likely face death penalty"

• "Tom Menino open to death penalty: Wants toughest punishment for accused terrorist"

• "Schumer says death penalty 'appropriate'"

• "Bombing Does Not Guarantee Death Penalty"

Spotting punishment and victims' rights issues after capture of Boston bombing suspect #2, Dzhokar Tsarnaev

This CNN headline gets to the heart of the most notable news after a remarkable manhunt: "'CAPTURED!!!' Boston police announce Marathon bombing suspect in custody."  Here are the basic details as of late Friday night:

The suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings was taken into custody Friday night, bringing to an end a massive manhunt in the Massachusetts capital amid warnings the man was possibly armed with explosives.

Law enforcement officials told CNN that authorities have confirmed the man in custody is 19-year-old Dzhokar Tsarnaev, who escaped an overnight shootout with police that left his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev -- the other man wanted in the bombings -- dead.  The younger Tsarnaev was in need of undisclosed medical care, the officials said.

After announcing the arrest on Twitter, Boston police tweeted: "CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody."...

Tsarnaev was cornered late Friday on a boat in a backyard of Watertown, a suburb of Boston.  Authorities "engaged" the man, according to one of the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, just minutes after authorities indicated during a news conference that a manhunt for the suspect appeared to come up empty....

The development came after authorities cast a wide net for the suspect that virtually shut down Boston and its surroundings following a violent night in which authorities say the brothers allegedly hurled explosives at pursuers, after killing Massachusetts Institute of Technology police Officer Sean Collier and hijacking a car....

A federal official told CNN that Dzhokar Tsarnaev came to the U.S. as a tourist with his family in the early 2000s and later asked for asylum. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2012.  Tamerlan Tsarnaev was not a naturalized citizen, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.  He came "a few years later" and was lawfully in the United States as a green-card holder.

In a brief press conference following the capture of Dzhokar Tsarnaev, the local US Attorney, Carmen Ortiz, was asked about whether she would seek the death penalty; she effectively dodged the question for now.  I would be surprised if federal capital charges are not pursued, even if the now-deceased older brother of Dzhokar Tsarnaev is found to have been the real mastermind of the Boston bombings. That said, as in the case of the Unibomber and the Tucson shooter and other notorious federal mass murderers, I would not be surprised if eventually capital charges are taken off the table for a guaranteed LWOP sentence in exchange for a guilty plea.

Among other significant legal issues now in play now is how the federal Crime Victim Rights Act might impact the prosecution of Dzhokar Tsarnaev.  Obviously, all the persons harmed by the Boston bombings and their relatives qualify as crime victims and thus now have, under the CVRA, a "reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the Government in the case."  But, in light of the manhunt lockdown today, an argument can be made that more than one million persons in and around Boston were "directly and proximately harmed as a result of the commission of a Federal offense" by Dzhokar Tsarnaev.  Of course, it will be entirely impractical for everyone terrorized (and thus arguably victimized) by the Boston bombings and its aftermath to invoke formal rights under the federal Crime Victim Rights Act. Still, how federal prosecutors will seek to comply with the CVRA in this case will be interesting to watch.

Related posts:

• Horrific crime with uncertain responsibility and uncertain punishment on Patriots' Day in Boston
• Can the new media help identify the two persons the FBI are seeking in the Boston bombings?

Can the new media help identify the two persons the FBI are seeking in the Boston bombings?

The question in the title of this post is prompted by my desire to help the FBI identify and question the two persons appearing in these pictures now posted on the FBI's website.  This Washington Post article provides background on this latest crime investigation development, as well as the modern challenges posed by modern media:

The FBI on Thursday released photographs of two men said to be suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three spectators and injured more than 170 other people.

Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Boston, appealed to the public for help in identifying the two men, whom he cautioned should be considered “armed and extremely dangerous.”

Appearing at a news briefing with U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, DesLauriers said the two men, both carrying what appeared to be heavy bags on their backs, walked together through the crowd of spectators. He said the man identified as Suspect No. 2, wearing a white cap, was seen leaving his bag at the site of the second explosion Monday.

“We initially developed a single person of interest,” not knowing whether the man was acting alone or with others, DesLauriers said. The FBI later determined that there was a second suspect, he said.

“Today we are enlisting the public’s help to identify the two suspects,” he said. Photos of the men were displayed on easels set up in the briefing room, and DesLauriers said the images would also be published on the FBI’s Web site.

“Somebody out there” knows who the men are, DesLauriers said, adding: “We consider them to be armed and extremely dangerous.” He warned the public: “No one should approach them.... Do not take any action on your own.” He urged people instead to contact law enforcement....

With the investigation proceeding, President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation flew to Boston to attend an interfaith prayer service, console victims of the bombings and their relatives and thank medical personnel and first responders....

Wednesday’s whirlpool of reports demonstrated the extraordinary promise and power that new technologies bring to criminal investigations, but also the risk and unreasonable expectations that now permeate such probes. When federal authorities asked the public for help Monday, they received thousands of video clips and still images of the bomb site.

Some people, empowered by smartphones and ever more sophisticated technology, didn’t leave the detective work to the professionals. They joined forces on sites such as Reddit.com to examine crowd pictures, searching for — and then virally distributing — image of backpacks that resembled the shredded bag in photos the FBI released Tuesday.

Black backpacks turn out to be ubiquitous, and when five of them were found in a single photo of the crowd on Boylston Street, the search quickly drew criticism from readers worried that innocent people could be harmed by being identified as suspicious. Others questioned whether black backpacks were even the most important lead, recalling the search for white box trucks that steered investigators astray in the D.C. sniper case a decade ago.

UPDATE:  As of 10am on Friday morning, April 19, 2013, here is the latest news via this NBC News update, which is right now headlined "Boston on lockdown during marathon manhunt for white-hat suspect":

Boston and its surburbs, universities and transit system were on total lockdown Friday as police hunted for marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev -- on the loose after his accomplice brother was killed in a stunning chain of events that left one cop dead and another injured, officials said.

Authorities were confronting a double-edged nightmare: a ruthless killer at large in a densely populated area and a four-mile stretch of road possibly littered with explosive devices tossed from the suspects' getaway vehicle during a wild chase and firefights.

A possible associate of the brothers was also being sought.

Two unidentified people were taken into custody at the Cambridge, Mass., home where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan grew up, but they were not being described as additional suspects. Three dozen FBI agents were surrounding the house....

"There is a massive manhunt under way," Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said. "We are asking people to shelter in place." The lockdown initially affected more than 300,000 people in Cambridge, Watertown, Newton, Brighton, Allston and Belmont, but by 8 a.m., the entire city of Boston was paralyzed, officials said.

Watertown, where the second suspect was last seen, was the epicenter of the search. Frightened residents were trapped in their homes as convoys of heavily armed officers and troops arrived by the hour.

Harvard University, Boston University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Emerson University were all closed and students were told to stay inside. Boston public schools were shuttered for the day.

The overnight violence began near MIT about five hours after the FBI released surveillance photos of the two men suspected of planting two bombs near the finish line of Monday's Boston Marathon, killing three and wounding 176.

Tips about the identity of the suspects were still pouring in when the Tsarnaev brothers robbed a 7-Eleven then fatally shot an MIT police officer in his vehicle at 10:20 p.m., law enforcement officials said.

The brothers -- of Chechen origin, but legal permanent residents of the U.S. who moved here a decade ago -- then carjacked a Mercedes SUV, briefly holding the driver captive before letting him go and taking off, sources said.  During a chase between Cambridge and Watertown, the suspects threw explosives out the window, sources said.

Noteworthy new lawyer and now a new judge for Jesse Jackson Jr. sentencing

This new Chicago Tribune article, headlined "For sentencing, Jacksons get new judge named Jackson," reports on some notable pre-sentencing developments in the run up to a high-profile federal sentencing scheduled for later this year. Here are the basics:

The felony cases of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, former Chicago Ald. Sandi Jackson, have been assigned to a new judge — named Jackson.

Court papers filed Tuesday moved the cases to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, but did not explain why the judge who accepted the Jacksons' guilty pleas, Robert Wilkins, would not be the one to sentence them this summer.

Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree Jr., who recently joined Jesse Jackson Jr.'s legal team, told the Tribune that Wilkins is a former law student whom he knows well, and that Wilkins may have recused himself out of caution.

Ogletree said he joined Jackson Jr.'s team on a pro bono basis and will appear at his sentencing June 28. He said he was not involved in the defense of Sandi Jackson, who will be sentenced July 1.

Under sentencing guidelines, the former congressman faces 46 to 57 months in prison and Sandi Jackson one to two years. The pair pleaded guilty in separate cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after Jackson Jr. looted his campaign treasury of more than $750,000 and Sandi Jackson failed to report on joint tax returns about $600,000 in income.

Ogletree, when asked what would be a fair sentence for Jackson Jr., would not say whether that involved prison time but argued that he deserved a "second chance." He said he thought any judge will look not only at the guidelines but at Jackson Jr.'s record of public and community service and work with seniors and young people.

Ogletree, a longtime acquaintance of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., the civil rights leader, said the case was not about the father but about his son, who is "a young man in a very challenging situation who has a story that I hope people will be willing to listen to."

Judge Amy Berman Jackson was chosen for the Jacksons' case based on a random reassignment. She is not related to the couple — but she is a Harvard law alum like Wilkins and Ogletree.

Judge Jackson has familiarity with a convicted congressman: As a defense attorney before her appointment to the bench, she represented Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who was convicted of corruption after authorities found $90,000 in cash in his freezer.

Recent related posts:

• You be the prosecutor: what federal sentence should be sought for Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife?
• Jacksons plead guilty and federal prosecutors recommend significant prison terms for both

Horrific crime with uncertain responsibility and uncertain punishment on Patriots' Day in Boston

I am listening now to the press conference concerning the latest news concerning the horrific crime that took place today, Patriots' Day, in Boston.  According to the report, at 2:50pm there were simulataneous explosions resulting in casualties on the route of Boston Marathon.  In addition, more than an hour later, there was some sort of (perhaps related) event at the nearby JKF Library. 

This ABC News live update includes these critical (and perhaps unconfirmed) details:

3:43 pm ET: Trauma nurse tells ABC News that the race’s medical tent has become a makeshift morgue. Dealing with injuries including severed limbs and children with severe burns....

4:05 pm ET: Boston police confirm at least 22 injured, 2 dead....

4:21 pm ET: Boston police confirm they have found three more suspicious devices. One has been rendered safe....

4:24 pm ET: A Federal law enforcement authority confirms to ABC News this was an intentional bombing, using small portable explosive devices....

4:35 pm ET: Two more explosive devices have been found near the scene of the explosion, according to the Associated Press.

4:38 pm ET: “There is no sign of any radiological material involved in the explosion,” a federal source tells ABC News.

I will be off-line for the next few hours, and I sincerely hope the news only gets better and not worse in the hours and days ahead.

Terrific SCOTUSblog preview of Kebodeaux and SORNA

A helpful reader reminded me not only that the Supreme Court has a last few criminal justice cases slated for oral argument the next few weeks as its term winds down, but also that one sex offender case, US v. Kebodeaux, due to be argued next week raises a host of intricate legal issue. Helpfully, Steven Schwinn sorts through Kebodeaux via this terrific (and very lengthy) post at SCOTUSblog  titled "Argument preview: Can Congress punish a former sex offender for failure to register?".  Here are highlights from the analysis section of the preview:

This is a narrow case. It involves a defendant who represents a relatively small and, with time, diminishing class of individuals (those with sex-offender convictions pre-SORNA). It involves a defendant who is subject to SORNA by virtue of his military conviction, and not his interstate travel. And it involves a challenge to SORNA’s penalty provision, and not its other provisions (including its registration provision, although it may be hard to separate the two here)....

In short, this is no broadside challenge to congressional authority to require sex-offender registration. Instead, it is a very narrow case. And we can expect the Court to address it that way.

Still, bigger issues are likely to emerge in the arguments. Thus, look for the Court to press the government for limits on congressional authority, and to ask the government about federal intrusion into areas of traditional state concern. In other words, some on the Court are likely to worry about whether the government’s theories lead to an expansive federal power that can encroach too far on the states.

On the other hand, look for the Court to ask Kebodeaux about the sweep of federal power under Comstock, especially when Kebodeaux came under federal authority because of his military service, and not because of his interstate travels. Look for the Court also to test Kebodeaux’s theory of federal control pre-SORNA, given the full sex-offender registration scheme under the Wetterling Act (including the federal penalty for failure to register, and also including the federal financial incentives for states to create their own registrations and other features of the Act). The Court could see SORNA’s application to Kebodeaux as only a modest additional exercise of federal authority, given these considerations.

Two discussions suggesting potential virtues of shame punishments

I have just noticed two notable punishment theory papers via SSRN discussing shame punishments.  This broader piece by Luke Coyne is titled "Can Shame Be Therapeutic?" and here is its abstract:

This paper focuses on alternative judicial punishments such as reciprocal and humiliation punishments.  It explores the past and present use of such punishments.  It covers the theories behind the use of these punishments.  It also takes a look at the praise and criticism for the use of these punishments.  Additionally, the paper discusses the use and effects of these punishments, including recidivism rates.

This other piece is by Xiyin Tang is a bit more focused. It is titled "Shame: A Different Criminal Law Proposal for Bullies," and here is the abstract:

Public concern over bullying has reached an all-time high.  The absence of a sensible criminal charging and sentencing regime for the problem recently reared its head in the highly-publicized prosecution of Dharun Ravi, who was convicted of 15 counts and faced the possibility of 10 years in prison.  This Essay argues that existing criminal statutes used to address the problem, like bias intimidation and invasion of privacy, do not fit neatly with the specific wrongs of bullying.  However, recently-enacted “cyberbullying” laws, which give complete discretion to school administrators, are weak and ineffective.

I propose another solution: first, to criminalize the act of bullying itself, thus sending a powerful expressive message that can flip the high school and teenage norm of meanness as virtue.  To reinforce that message, sentencing a bully to shaming, not imprisonment, better serves utilitarian, expressive, rehabilitative, and retributive goals specific to the wrongs of bullying.

Former NFL player now a high-profile felon facing (severe?) federal sentencing realities

As reported in this ESPN piece, headlined "Sam Hurd pleads guilty," I now have a new high-profile (and potentially high) federal defendant to watch as his sentencing approaches.   Here are just some of the interesting details:

Former NFL wide receiver Sam Hurd pleaded guilty Thursday to trying to buy cocaine and marijuana to set up a drug-distribution network, a move that leaves him facing significant prison time.

Hurd, 27, pleaded guilty in federal court in Dallas to one count of possession of cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute. His trial was scheduled to begin Monday, and a federal judge had refused his attorney's request to delay it.

Prosecutors and Hurd's attorneys have been in plea discussions for months, according to one of his attorneys, Jay Ethington. One sticking point was what allegations Hurd would acknowledge in a plea agreement, which will factor into his recommended sentence on the indictment, Ethington said in September.

Ethington told The Chicago Tribune that he plans to "vigorously contest" Hurd's sentencing, contending that the former receiver didn't engage in drug trafficking to the extent alleged by prosecutors. "He's a marijuana freak," Ethington told the newspaper. "He loves marijuana. He's addicted to high-grade marijuana."

Ethington said Hurd was not a marijuana dealer. "Sell? No. Share with his friends? Yes," Ethington told the newspaper.

Hurd was a player for the Chicago Bears when was arrested in December 2011 outside a Chicago-area steakhouse after accepting a kilogram of cocaine from an undercover officer, according to documents prosecutors filed in the case.  Prosecutors alleged he told the officer and an informant at the steakhouse that he wanted to purchase up to 10 kilograms of cocaine a week for $25,000 per kilogram.

His arrest shocked his teammates and led to his release from the team. Months later, he was back in court after failing two drug tests and allegedly trying to arrange another drug buy.  Two men linked to Hurd's alleged attempts to buy drugs have pleaded guilty and were prepared to testify against him.

Guest post on federal sentencing data and costs of incarceration for child porn offenses

Experienced lawyer and federal sentencing guru Mark Allenbaugh (firm website here) sent me this "accounting" of the latest year-end federal sentencing data:

"Yesterday, the U.S. Sentencing Commission published its Annual Report to Congress, and Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics for fiscal year 2012.  Increasingly, this part of the Commission’s work is becoming of central importance to its mission.  Indeed, the stats reveal something rather startling, if not outright shocking, about the cost of incarceration. 

"Since United States v. Booker, the federal government has spent nearly $30 BILLION on incarceration, which exceeds the GDP of many countries including North Korea.  Of this, over $2 BILLION was spent on incarcerating child pornography offenders; 12,115 have been sentenced (not all to imprisonment, but most) under the guidelines since 2006.  What makes this rather startling is looking at other major offense categories.  For example, in the same period of time, over four times as many people have been sentenced for fraud offenses (54,813), however, the total cost of incarcerating those individuals was almost a billion dollars LESS!  ($2.1 billion for child pornography; $1.3 billion for fraud).  In other words, incarcerating 12,115 child pornography offenders cost the public fisc $2.1 billion, while incarcerating nearly 55,000 fraud offenders cost (only) $1.3 billion.

"So, why the big difference in cost?  Easy.  The increasingly longer sentences imposed on child pornography offender than for any other major offense category.  What that translates into is that the actual annual cost per offender is far higher for child pornography offenders than for any other major offense category.  We spend nearly $25,000 incarcerating child pornography offenders than fraud offenders, who cost only $3,500 per year.  Fraud is comparatively cheap because a substantial number do not receive any term of incarceration, and those that do often serve less than a year.  Here is a chart showing the AVERAGE sentences over the past 6 years for all major offense categories.  A quick glance shows how out of the ordinary child pornography offenses are, or more accurately, how obscenely out of whack they are.

"After spending $2 Billion over the last six years, it’s far past time to rein in this madness.  The Commission’s recent report on Federal Child Pornography Offenses effectively disavowing the sentencing guideline for non-production offenses is an enormous leap in the right direction.  We simply cannot afford to continue being fiscally foolish on child pornography sentencing; these data put the magnitude of the madness in sharp relief.  Hopefully Congress acts quickly to grant the Commission’s wish to have 'enact legislation providing the Commission with express authority to amend the current guideline provisions that were promulgated pursuant to specific congressional directives or legislation directly amending the guidelines.'

"[NOTE ON CALCULATION METHODS: the statistics were derived from table 13 and the BOP’s recent cost of incarceration estimate from FY 2012.  I simply took the total number sentenced each year (06-12), multiplied that by the MEDIAN sentence in months from each (to be conservative in my estimate; the mean or average would have resulted in much higher figures) and divided that by 12 to get the number of “Inmate Years” for a category.  I then multiplied the Inmate Years by $26,359, which is the average annual cost of incarceration per BOP.  This gives you the Total Cost FY06-12 for a category, e.g. $2,118,989,027 for Child Porn.  The Total Sentenced FY 06-12 is just exactly what it says.  Per Inmate, Per Year Cost is just the total cost divided by the total sentenced, then that number divided by 7 (7 years inclusive of FY2006-2012).]"

"Retribution and Revenge in the Context of Capital Punishment"

The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper I just saw via SSRN. The piece is authored by Robert Schopp, and here is the abstract:

Several Supreme Court opinions that reject capital punishment specifically or retributive punishment generally as inconsistent with the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution characterize those practices as vengeance or as revenge.  These opinions apparently reflect the premise that vengeance is self-evidently evil.  Non-judicial participants in the legal, political, and public debates regarding capital punishment specifically or retributive punishment generally sometimes demonstrate a similar tendency to repudiate capital punishment or retributive punishment as revenge without further justification, suggesting that the mere characterization of behavior or of an institution as revenge is sufficient to establish that it is illegitimate.

This Article examines the relevant passages in these opinions and the central notions at issue in order to distinguish several possible interpretations of the positions asserted.  It then evaluates the broader interpretations in the context of one traditional moral theory. Finally, it clarifies the significance of this analysis for the underlying debate regarding the justification (or lack thereof) of retributive punishment generally or of capital punishment specifically.

"Nearly three-quarters of Americans (72%) say that, in general, government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth"

The title of this post is the sentence and finding that struck me as the most notable and most interesting data point emerging from the just-released survey on marijuana law and policy by the Pew Research Center.  This extended press release from the folks at Pew, which carries the headline "Majority Now Supports Legalizing Marijuana," reports on all of the survey's main findings, and here are a few excerpts:

For the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue, a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana.  A national survey finds that 52% say that the use of marijuana should be made legal while 45% say it should not.

Support for legalizing marijuana has risen 11 points since 2010.  The change is even more dramatic since the late 1960s. A 1969 Gallup survey found that just 12% favored legalizing marijuana use, while 84% were opposed.

The survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted March 13-17 among 1,501 adults, finds that young people are the most supportive of marijuana legalization.  Fully 65% of Millennials — born since 1980 and now between 18 and 32 — favor legalizing the use of marijuana, up from just 36% in 2008.  Yet there also has been a striking change in long-term attitudes among older generations, particularly Baby Boomers.

Half (50%) of Boomers now favor legalizing marijuana, among the highest percentages ever.  In 1978, 47% of Boomers favored legalizing marijuana, but support plummeted during the 1980s, reaching a low of 17% in 1990.  Since 1994, however, the percentage of Boomers favoring marijuana legalization has doubled, from 24% to 50%....

The survey finds that an increasing percentage of Americans say they have tried marijuana.  Overall, 48% say they have ever tried marijuana, up from 38% a decade ago. Roughly half in all age groups, except for those 65 and older, say they have tried marijuana....

Among those who say they have used marijuana in the past year, 47% say they used it “just for fun,” while 30% say it was for a medical issue; 23% volunteer they used it for medical purposes and also just for fun....

More recently, there has been a major shift in attitudes on whether it is immoral to smoke marijuana.  Currently, 32% say that smoking marijuana is morally wrong, an 18-point decline since 2006 (50%).  Over this period, the percentage saying that smoking marijuana is not a moral issue has risen 15 points (from 35% then to 50% today).

Amid changing attitudes about marijuana, a sizable percentage of Americans (72%) say that government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth.  And 60% say that the federal government should not enforce federal laws prohibiting the use of marijuana in states where it is legal....

While Americans increasingly support legalizing marijuana and fewer see its potential dangers, many still do not like the idea of people using marijuana around them.  About half (51%) say they would feel uncomfortable if people around them were using marijuana, while 48% would not feel uncomfortable.  As with nearly all attitudes about marijuana, there are substantial age differences in discomfort with others using marijuana — 74% of those 65 and older say they would be uncomfortable if people around them used marijuana, compared with 35% of those under 30.

I genuinely wonder if there is any other serious federal felony law for which 3 out of every 4 persons would say that government enforcement efforts "cost more than they are worth." I also wonder whether and how these public opinions will start to have a tangible impact on federal marijuana laws, policies and practices.

Two notable resentencing stories via the New York Times

Continuing its recent notable extra interest in an array of modern sentencing stories, today's New York Times has two pieces that are both must reads for all sentencing fans.  And because neither story enables simply summarization, I will just here reprint the headlines and the links:

• "Long Prison Term Is Less So Thanks to Regrets by a Judge"

• "Victim and Prosecutor Back Death Row Inmate’s Bid for Resentencing"

Ever the nerdy and obsessed sentencing law professor, I could readily imagine teaching a week of classes about either of these noteworthy cases.  But I wonder if readers think one or the other of these modern sentencing stories merits some extra blog attention.

You be the sentencing judge: what is a fair and effective sentence of 86-year-old mercy killer?

I thought that, while folks continue to vigorously debate how Colorado prosecutors should deal with mass murderer James Holmes in the comments to this recent post, it would also be interesting to hear how readers might sentence a very different killer due in court today in Arizona.  This USA Today article, headlined "Man charged in 'mercy killing' set for sentencing: 86-year-old World War II veteran said his wife was set to be admitted to a hospital, then a nursing home," sets out the essential of another hard case:

George Sanders appeared frail and tired in the hours after he shot his ailing elderly wife in the head, wrapped in a blanket as he sat being questioned by a detective.

"She never wanted to outlive me and be left at the mercy of someone else," Sanders tells a Maricopa County sheriff's detective in an interrogation recorded the day his wife, Virginia Sanders, 81, was found shot in the couple's home.  "We loved each other so much," Sanders said.  "It was a wonderful life in spite of all the hard things we had at the end."

The 86-year-old was initially charged with first-degree murder for the Nov. 9 shooting of his wife but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter in what attorneys on both sides have called a "mercy killing."

Sanders could face probation or up to 12 1/2 years in prison at his sentencing hearing Friday....

The World War II veteran told authorities his wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1969, and the couple moved from Washington state to the retirement community of Sun City outside Phoenix about seven years later for the warm, dry climate as she was now in a wheelchair.  "We did a lot of things together, always loved each other," he told the detective, adding that her health began to deteriorate over the last few years.  "I took care of her through that day and night," Sanders said.

Eventually, as his own health deteriorated, he said the couple hired a caregiver.  He said his wife had been diagnosed with gangrene on her foot just a few days before the shooting and was set to be admitted to a hospital, then a nursing home.  "It was just the last straw," Sanders said.  "She didn't want to go to that hospital ... start cutting her toes off."

He said he talked it over with his wife and she begged him to kill her. "I said, 'I can't do it honey,'" he told police. "She says, 'Yes you can.'"

Sanders said he got his revolver and wrapped a towel around it so the bullet wouldn't go into the kitchen.  "She says, 'Is this going to hurt,' and I said, 'You won't feel a thing,'" he said. "She was saying, 'Do it. Do it. Do it.'  And I just let it go," Sanders added.

I have highlighted in this story the sentencing range provided by state law for this crime. Because the Arizona legislature apparently believes that some persons convicted of manslaughter should get a sentence of only probation, and because I have a hard time thinking of too many more mitigated cases of manslaughter, I would likely impose a sentence of probation on Mr. Sanders. But perhaps others have a different perspective on what they think sentencing justice demands in this kind of case.

UPDATE: This report via ABC News has a headline with the ultimate sentencing outcome: "Man, 86, Gets Probation in Ariz. Mercy Killing."  Here is a snippet from the story:

The judge, who complimented the prosecutor for being "courageous" in recommending probation, allowed Sanders to walk out of the courtroom.  Judge John Ditsworth said his sentence of two years' probation was "individualized and tempers justice with mercy."

"It is very clear that he will never forget that his actions ended the life of his wife," Ditsworth said as Sanders stood at a podium, his hands clasped and shaking.  "In this set of facts, there was a perfect storm of individual circumstances which placed Mr. Sanders in a position where had to make a decision," Ditsworth said.  "This set of facts hits close to home for all of us."