Sentencing — Prosecutors — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Prosecutors

Currently, prosecutors in both the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems have too much discretion in pressing charges, determining what sentences are sought, and negotiating plea deals. Trial by jury is a key tenant of the American criminal justice system, but heightened prosecutorial power significantly reduces the power and frequency of a trial by peers. Attempts at sentencing reform must address largely unchecked prosecutorial discretion.

Posts in Sentencing

Taking a second look at life imprisonment

“Criminologists know that individuals “age out” of crime. Any parent of a teenager understands that misbehavior, often serious, is all too common at this stage. FBI arrest data show that the rate of arrest for teenage boys rises sharply from the mid-teen years through the early 20s but then declines significantly. Arrests for robbery, for example, peak at age 19 but decline by more than half by age 30 and by three-quarters by age 40. The same is true for other violent crimes. The reason is clear. As teenage boys enter their 20s, they lose their impulsivity, get jobs, find life partners, form families, and generally take on adult roles. Violent behavior becomes less attractive.“

Boston Globe

November 7, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesNovember 7, 2019Boston GlobeComment

Hundreds of police officers have been labeled liars. Some still help send people to prison.

“In a case that came down to one man’s word against another’s, jurors believed the police officer. Because of his prior offenses, Vara was sentenced to 25 years in prison. What happened to Vara has been unconstitutional for more than 50 years. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that prosecutors must tell anyone accused of a crime about all evidence that might help their defense at trial. That includes sharing details about police officers who have committed crimes, lied on the job or whose honesty has been called into doubt.“

USA Today

October 17, 2019

False Convictions, SentencingPhillip ReevesOctober 17, 2019USA Today, Brady ViolationsComment

Rhode Island Police Don't Just Make Arrests. Some Also Act as Prosecutors.

“The state is one of eight that allow cops to arraign people on misdemeanor charges. Advocates and academics say the practice is unjust.“

The Appeal

October 10, 2019

Overcriminalization, Prosecutors, SentencingPhillip ReevesOctober 10, 2019The Appeal, Rhode IslandComment

Prosecutor Sends Staff to Prison, in a Bid to Counter Their Reflex to Incarcerate

“George said this perspective should fuel shorter sentences, but also restrain prosecutors from seeking incarceration in the first place. ‘They spent an hour and a half there and were relieved to get out,’ she said of staff members who have already visited St. Albans as part of her initiative. ‘So let’s imagine how this might impact somebody who is there for six months or a year, and how this impacts them as a community member when they get back out. Is there a way that we can avoid that entirely, and not risk them coming out a more violent person or with some type of trauma having been in jail? Can we find another way’?“

The Appeal Political Report

August 14, 2019

Sentencing, ProsecutorsPhillip ReevesAugust 14, 2019The Appeal Political Report, VermontComment

Prisons are packed because prosecutors are coercing plea deals. And, yes, it's totally legal.

“Though physical torture remains off limits, American prosecutors are equipped with a fearsome array of tools they can use to extract confessions and discourage people from exercising their right to a jury trial. These tools include charge-stacking (charging more or more serious crimes than the conduct really merits), legislatively-ordered mandatory-minimum sentences, pretrial detention with unaffordable bail, threats to investigate and indict friends or family members, and the so-called trial penalty — what the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers calls the “substantial difference between the sentence offered prior to trial versus the sentence a defendant receives after a trial.”“

NBC

August 8, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesAugust 8, 2019Cato Institute, NBCComment

Opinion: Every D.A. in America Should Open a Sentence Review Unit

“The concept of sentence review units is not entirely unfamiliar; it builds on conviction review units that root out cases where an innocent person has been found guilty. Sentence review units are similar, but instead of wrongful convictions, they seek out cases where the sentence seems excessive. What counts as “excessive” is necessarily a judgment call, but examples include sentences that in retrospect seem disproportionate to the severity of the offense, or those that are far longer than what a person sentenced today would receive.“

New York Times

August 1, 2019

Overcriminalization, SentencingPhillip ReevesAugust 1, 2019James Forman Jr, New York Times, Sentence Review UnitComment

The tough-on-crime law Democrats are overlooking

“The criticism of these provisions is entirely justified. But not enough attention has been paid to another 1980s-era tough-on-crime law that is still very much with us, causing substantial unnecessary incarceration, particularly of African Americans and Hispanics: the 1984 Sentencing Reform Act. Among its “reforms,” the law eliminated parole for federal offenders and created the U.S. Sentencing Commission that then promulgated the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. “

Washington Post

June 30, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesJune 30, 2019Washington Post, 1984 Sentencing Reform ActComment

L.A. Prosecutor Touts Her Mental Health Reforms, But Critics Say She's Making the Crisis Worse

“But critics say Lacey herself isn’t the reformer she has claimed to be. Though in January she announced a new division in her office devoted to serving people with mental illness, the unit only has about two staffers, according to Joseph Iniguez, an assistant district attorney in Lacey’s office who is running against her in 2020. And Iniguez said line prosecutors aren’t properly trained on how to handle cases involving people with mental illness in court. “

The Appeal

June 7, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesJune 7, 2019The Appeal, Los Angeles, LA, Jackie LaceyComment

How a new district attorney is shaking up the justice system in midcoast Maine

“Restorative justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior, and one of its foundational principles is that the people affected by the crime should be able to participate in its resolution. Currently, restorative justice is incorporated into the criminal justice system in the four midcoast counties, primarily through programs operated by the Restorative Justice Project of the Midcoast, a Belfast-based nonprofit organization.“

Bangor Daily News

May 28, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesMay 28, 2019Bangor Daily News, MaineComment

Took a Plea? Brooklyn's District Attorney Will Support Your Parole

“In the 18 months since he was elected the borough’s chief law enforcement officer, Gonzalez has rarely spoken of that personal tragedy from almost a quarter of a century ago. But he cited the experience as one that has helped shape his thinking as he has wrestled with how his office, the state’s second largest, should handle those it convicts of serious crimes after they go to prison. Prosecutors around the country almost always turn thumbs down on parole requests. But at his office, Gonzalez plans to change that.“

The Marshall Project

April 17, 2019

Prosecutors, SentencingPhillip ReevesApril 17, 2019The Marshall Project, Brooklyn, Eric GonzalezComment

After waves of criminal justice reforms, prosecutors now want to lock in pleas, ask defendants to give up future rights

“The San Diego County District Attorney has a new tactic aimed at locking in prison terms in plea-bargained cases, by requiring defendants to give up any rights they may have in the future to seek a lower sentence if the Legislature or the courts change the law under which they were sent to prison.“

San Diego Union-Tribune

April 17, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesApril 17, 2019San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego, Plea DealsComment

Putting Prosecutors in Check: Let Jurors Know the Potential Sentence

“The critical information we highlight here is the sentencing outcome of a trial if the jury finds the defendant guilty of a crime. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, jurors are not permitted to know what sentence a criminal defendant will face if convicted.”

The Open File

April 11, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesApril 11, 2019The Open FileComment

When “Violent Offenders” Commit Nonviolent Crimes

“According to a Marshall Project survey of all 50 states’ laws, you can get charged and convicted as a violent criminal in more than a dozen states if you enter a dwelling that’s not yours. That might seem like a property crime, but it’s often deemed a violent one: burglary.“

The Marshall Project

April 3, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesApril 3, 2019The Marshall ProjectComment

Texas Plan to Execute a Man for a Murder He Didn't Commit

“Under the law of parties, if people conspire together to commit a felony (in this case, armed robbery), and one person commits an additional felony in furtherance of the first one that could have been anticipated, ‘all conspirators are guilty of the felony actually committed, though having no intent to commit it.’ In other states, a similar doctrine is known as felony murder.“

The Appeal

March 28, 2019

Death Penalty, SentencingPhillip ReevesMarch 28, 2019The Appeal, Texas, Felony-murder LawComment

Suffolk DA Rollins Lays Out Plans For Leniency For Low-Level, Nonviolent Offenses

“‘We start with a presumption that, in most cases, these charges don’t need to be prosecuted,’ Rollins said in a statement accompanying the memo. ‘Dismissal, diversion, treatment, and services are much more often the appropriate outcomes’.“

WBUR Boston

March 26, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesMarch 26, 2019WBUR Boston, Rachael Rollins, Suffolk CountyComment

Guest Post: Reduce prison populations by reducing life sentences

“The principal driver of the graying prison population is the growing proportion of lifers, mostly in state prison systems. One in 7 U.S. prisoners is now serving life or a virtual life sentence, a total of more than 200,000 people. In 1984, there were only about 34,000 lifers.“

Washington Post

March 21, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesMarch 21, 2019Washington Post, Daniel Nagin, Life SentenceComment

Philly DA Larry Krasner: We took on mass incarceration. Now we’re addressing mass supervision.

“‘I think people instinctively believed too much supervision is not enough. But it turns out too much supervision is too much. ... It does tremendous harm, and it costs a fortune,’ Krasner said in an interview outlining policies to be announced Thursday. Nationally, about 40 percent of people on probation are reincarcerated, making community supervision a major driver of incarceration. About 40 percent of Philadelphia’s jail population is being held on a detainer for a violation of probation or parole.“

Philadelphia Inquirer

March 21, 2019

Sentencing, State ReformsPhillip ReevesMarch 21, 2019Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Larry KrasnerComment

Opinion: PA’s new sentencing algorithm is a weapon of mass incarceration

“If we divest decision-making to an algorithm that ignores our capacity to change, then we will enter a new, frightening stage of mass incarceration. If the tool is trained to find risk, it will most certainly find it, and weaponize it to incarcerate us, rather than send us home to make amends, and to heal our families and communities.“

Billy Penn

December 11, 2018

SentencingPhillip ReevesDecember 11, 2018Billy Penn, PennsylvaniaComment

America’s Leading Reform-Minded District Attorney Has Taken His Most Radical Step Yet

“Krasner has challenged the idea that every person convicted of killing should be sent away for the rest of their lives, which is the mandatory minimum sentence for first- or second- degree murder in Pennsylvania. He has mandated that he personally sign off on any deal offered that exceeds 15 to 30 years in prison. “

Slate

December 4, 2018

SentencingPhillip ReevesDecember 4, 2018Slate, Larry Krasner, PhiladelphiaComment

Larry Krasner moves Philadelphia beyond ‘eye-for-an-eye’ on murder | Opinion

“Breaking with long-held tradition, Krasner is no longer seeking to charge any killing that happens in the city with the highest possible charge — first-degree murder that carries a sentence of life without parole or death. Instead, Krasner intends to use the full spectrum of murder charges.“

Philadelphia Inquirer

November 20, 2018

SentencingPhillip ReevesNovember 20, 2018Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Larry KrasnerComment