The Plea Bargaining Blog

The New York Times has an interesting opinion piece today from David Brooks regarding " The Prison Problem ."  The article focuses on over-incarceration and examines what might be driving this phenomenon outside of the usual suspects, such as the "war on drugs" and mandatory minimum sentences.  The piece argues that while the "war on drugs" and mandatory minimums certainly played their roles, there is also much to be said for the impact of changes in prosecutorial behavior over time.  In discussing the role of prosecutors, Brooks mentions the role of plea bargaining. District attorneys and their assistants have gotten a lot more aggressive in bringing felony charges. Twenty years ago they brought felony charges against about one in three arrestees. Now it’s something like two in three. That produces a lot more plea bargains and a lot more prison terms. Brook's piece is well worth a read.  I look forward to a future opinion piece from Brooks look...

I was honored to serve as the moderator of a recent discussion on Capital Hill regarding overcriminalization.  The discussion occurred on September 16, 2015 and was entitled " Striking the Right Balance: Criminal v. Civil Law Sanctions ."  The program description is below: How should our federal government strike the right balance between the use of criminal law sanctions instead of civil law sanctions? Are prosecutors expanding the reach of criminal statutes to address conduct that was clearly not contemplated by Congress when enacted?  The event began with an opening address by Norman Reimer, Executive Director of the NACDL.  That was followed by a panel discussion, which included myself as moderator, Adeel Bashir (Appellate Division, Office of the Federal Defender, M.D.Fla.), John Lauro (Lauro Law Firm), and Marjorie Peerce (Ballard Spahr).  It was a wonderful event, and I encourage you to watch the below video of the discussion.  It included several ...

Below is a link to an excellent piece that appeared last night on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver .  The show has been focusing a lot on criminal justice issues lately.  This particular piece on public defenders includes discussion of plea bargaining and innocence, including the story of Erma Faye Stewart . Hopefully, the show will soon have a piece devoted exclusively to the plea bargaining issue.

Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates has issued a memorandum regarding " Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing ."  The memorandum describes important new priorities and policies regarding the prosecution of individual employees, not just corporations, in cases involving corporate crime. From the memorandum: Fighting corporate fraud and other misconduct is a top priority of the Department of Justice. Our nation's economy depends on effective enforcement of the civil and criminal laws that protect our financial system and, by extension, all our citizens. These are principles that the Department lives and breathes- as evidenced by the many attorneys, agents, and support staff who have worked tirelessly on corporate investigations, particularly in the aftermath of the financial crisis. One of the most effective ways to combat corporate misconduct is by seeking accountability from the individuals who perpetrated the wrongdoing. Such accountability is importan...

Registration is now open for the Inaugural ABA Criminal Justice Section  Global White Collar Crime Institute , which will take place November 19-20, 2015 at the  Ritz-Carlton Shanghai Pudong  in Shanghai, China.  The event is done in collaboration with the KoGuan Law School of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.  I am honored to serve as the Institute Chair and hope to see many of my blog readers at the event. This conference will be an incredible opportunity to interact with prosecutors, judges, defense counsel, accountants, in-house counsel, and academics from the U.S., China, and other parts of the world as they convene to discuss the complexities of international white collar crime.   More from the  registration website : The goal of the conference is to bring the energy and excitement of our previous international white collar crime conferences to Asia and create unique opportunities for our participants to network and explore the legal ...

I have just released a  new article  discussing the sentencing of Jordan Belfort, better known as the "Wolf of Wall Street."  I use this case as a mechanism for considering how white collar sentencing has evolved from the 1980s until today.  In particular, the article examines the growth in uncertainty and inconsistency in sentences received by major white collar offenders over this period of time and considers some of the reasons for this trend.  The article also examines the impact of recent amendments adopted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission on white collar sentences. Lucian E. Dervan,  Sentencing the Wolf of Wall Street: From Leniency to Uncertainty , 61 Wayne Law Review -- (2015). Abstract: This Symposium Article, based on a presentation given by Professor Dervan at the 2014 Wayne Law Review Symposium entitled "Sentencing White Collar Defendants: How Much is Enough," examines the Jordan Belfort (“Wolf of Wall Street”) prosecution as a veh...