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Supreme Court Gives the Defense a Boost in Plea Bargaining
The Supreme Court's Jan.12 decision in U.S. v. Booker, which made the federal Sentencing Guidelines advisory rather than mandatory, is likely to: 1) prove modest in its impact on sentences in the short run; 2) alter a bit the balance of power among prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges; and 3) spur Congress to make federal sentencing even more Draconian than it was for 2 decades under the mandatory Guidelines.
About the Decision
The decision, of questionable logic, is in two parts, with significantly different majorities answering the two questions presented. First, a 5-4 opinion by Justice Stevens held that disputed facts leading to enhanced sentences must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. (Under the Guidelines, such facts were found by the sentencing judge upon a preponderance of the evidence.) Second, the four dissenters to that proposition, joined by Justice Ginsberg, held in an opinion by Justice Breyer that the cure to the Constitutional defect perceived by the Stevens majority was to strike two provisions of the statute implementing the Guidelines. The excisions — 18 U.S.C. ' 3553(b)(1) and 18 U.S.C. ' 3742(e) — made the Guidelines advisory rather than mandatory and limited appellate review of sentences. Now, the courts of appeal no longer can substitute their own Guidelines calculation for the district courts'. Instead, they can reverse a sentence only if it's unreasonable in light of the purposes set forth in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.
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Yachts, Jets, Horses & Hooch: Specialized Commercial Leasing Models
Defining commercial real estate asset class is essentially a property explaining how it identifies — not necessarily what its original intention was or what others think it ought to be. This article discusses, from a general issue-spot and contextual analysis perspective, how lawyers ought to think about specialized leasing formats and the regulatory backdrops that may inform what the documentation needs to contain for compliance purposes.
Hyperlinked Documents: The Latest e-Discovery Challenge
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Risks and Ad Fraud Protection In Digital Advertising
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Turning Business Development Plans Into Reality
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