BLOG BULLETS: Recent Sentencing Commission statistics reflect that probably close to half the contested sentences in fraud and theft cases in the last fiscal year were below the guidelines. A former government prosecutor who used to be a strong supporter of the guidelines has published numerous scholarly articles strongly criticizing the theft/fraud guideline since leaving […]
Read/Write CommentsBLOG BULLETS: The Sentencing Commission has adjusted the loss tables to take inflation into account, though the adjustment accounts only for inflation since 2001. The Commission has also made favorable changes to the victims enhancement, the sophisticated means enhancement, and the definition of “intended loss.” Finally, the Commission has added considerations and commentary to the […]
Read/Write CommentsBLOG BULLETS: The limits on how court records can be used under the modified categorical approach that are recognized in the Marcia-Acosta and Sahagun-Gallegos cases discussed in last week’s post suggest prior Ninth Circuit cases permitting broader use aren’t good law after Descamps. The cases which may no longer be good law include cases like United […]
Read/Write CommentsBLOG BULLETS: Two recent Ninth Circuit cases place strict limits on how court records can be used under the modified categorical approach, making clear that records can be used only to identify necessary elements, not extraneous facts that aren’t elements. One of the cases establishes that it isn’t enough for there to be a […]
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