sentencing guidelines

New Sentencing Guidelines amendments aim to strengthen corporate compliance programs

February 09, 2010 19:59

On January 21, 2010, the United States Sentencing Commission (the “Commission”) issued a notice of proposed amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines, which included amendments to those guidelines regarding the sentencing of organizations. Generally, when organizations are charged and...

Ninth Circuit rejects use of Dura Pharmaceuticals' civil loss-calculation method to fix "loss" for criminal sentencing

December 21, 2009 21:06

Nearly five years, the Supreme Court held in Dura Pharmaceuticals. Inc. v. Broudo, 544 U.S. 336 (2005) that a civil securities fraud plaintiff was required to show both that an alleged fraud was disclosed to the market and that the disclosure caused a loss to shareholders, that is, that the share...

Still Another Way to Avoid Prison

Ron Chapman
November 05, 2009 00:00

         I previously published two articles on this website entitled "Florida Sentencing and Drug Court Programs" and "Amended Law Provides Additional Ways to Avoid Prison."  Both of those articles looked at new laws that make...

Cooperation is the only post-sentencing game in town

Alain Leibman
November 03, 2009 17:58

The Seventh Circuit recently held that, on a government motion under Rule 35(b) to reduce a sentence for new cooperation, the district court may not use the occasion to reopen sentencing to assess whether a reduction is justified under the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors.  Cooperation is the...

Amended Law Provides Additional Ways to Avoid Prison

Ron Chapman
October 25, 2009 14:22

          Earlier this month, I published an article on this website entitled Florida Sentencing and Drug Court Programs in which I noted that if a criminal defendant has more than 44 total sentence points on the sentencing guidelines, he is supposed to...