The man on the right is Salim Ahmed Hamdan. He was Osama bin Laden’s driver. He was convicted of materially aiding terrorists. He was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison. The man on the left is Jamie Olis. He was an accountant for Dynergy Corp., and was convicted of materially aiding activities that were…
Category Archives: Sentencing
NatWest 3 To Be Sentenced
Three British bankers are to be sentenced Friday for their roles in a fraudulent scheme involving collapsed U.S. energy company Enron.David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew each face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.In November, the three men each pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud…
Supreme Court OK’s Longer Sentences for “Career Armed Criminals”
Bolstering the troubling trend toward more, and longer, mandatory minimum sentences, the Supreme Court today upheld the federal Armed Career Criminal Act, which allows prosecutors to seek longer mandatory sentences if a defendant has 3 or more prior convictions for crimes that are either violent felonies or serious drug offenses. In James v. United States,…
Sentencing is Out of Whack
Stuart Taylor, who always has an interesting viewpoint on legal matters, has written an excellent essay for the National Journal in which he discusses the completely out of whack sentencing system. Taylor focuses on the recent trend of lengthy prison terms for white collar offenders. In my view, Taylor hots the nail squarely on the…
Why Mandatory Minimum Sentences are EVIL
ESPN the Magazine, not normally known for its coverage of things legal brings us this outrageous story of a high school honor student and sports star now doing 10 years on a conviction for “aggravated child molestation.” Seems the young man was stupid enough to receive oral sex at a party from a girl, who…
What’s Up With the Supreme Court and Sentencing Guidelines?
Emily Bazelon, with whom I usually disagree, and usually vehemently, has this very interesting article posted on Slate in which she discusses the Supreme Court’s recent Cunningham decision, in which the Court struck down California’s criminal sentencing guidelines. Emily discusses the somewhat peculiar alliances at work in the case (Scalia and Thomas, joined by Chief…