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For More Information:
Jack King, Public Affairs Director
(202) 872-8600 ext. 228, media@nacdl.org

• Booker/Fanfan Decisions
• Case Information
• Deputy Attorney General Memo Regarding Booker
• NACDL's Amicus Briefs
• Letter to House and Senate Judiciary Committees
• Practitioners’ Advisory Group's Recommendations
• ABA Kennedy Commission Report
• U.S. Sentencing Commission Public Hearing
• In the News
• NACDL Spokespeople
• Mandatory Minimum Cases of Note
• Who We Are

First Circuit Affirms a Sentence of Three Months Incarceration, Followed by Two Years of Supervised Release and a Fine, in a Five Million Dollar Medicare Fraud Jury Trial Conviction Case, Rejecting a Sixty Month Advisory Guideline in United States v. Thurston, No. 05-2271 (1^st Cir. Oct. 2, 2008).

Report: Federal Sentences Lengthier Than Ever--March 16, 2006--Washington, D.C.-- Federal judges continue to impose the most severe sentences ever imposed. It is no longer drug kingpins who are being sentenced to 10 and 20 years in prison or more. Persons convicted of fraud and other nonviolent offenses are also being imprisoned for terms once reserved for the most violent offenders. Whereas once more than half of federal defendants might expect to receive a sentence of probation, today nearly all can expect to be sent to prison. ...more


Booker/Fanfan Decided Jan. 12, 2005. Click Here to Read the Decisions.

Click Here to Enter NACDL's Blakely v. Washington Page For More Information.

What the Cases Are About:

NACDL's Amicus Briefs:

Deputy Attorney General Memo Regarding Booker

Text of Jan. 28, 2005 memo from DAG James B. Comey to all federal prosecutors setting forth DOJ sentencing "policies and procedures" after Booker.

Letter to House and Senate Judiciary Committees

Practitioners’ Advisory Group's Recommendations

Reports With Recommendations on Federal Mandatory Minimums

U.S. Sentencing Commission Public Hearing

In the News

• "Calculating Loss Under the Guidelines," New York Law Journal, October 8, 2008
• "Federal Prison Consultant Predicts Many Indictments From Financial Crisis," American Chronicle, October 6, 2008
• "Seeking Restitution for the Costs of Internal Investigations," New York Law Journal, September 30, 2008

Aftermath of Booker/Fanfan:

• "Truth in Sentencing? The Gonzales Cases" (NACDL, July 7, 2005)
• "The Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations: What’s Up?" Association of Corporate Counsel, Feb. 2005
• "Over 400 Cases Returned For Possible Resentencing," Wall Street Journal, Jan. 25, 2005
• "Judges' New Leeway in Passing Sentence May Change Little," New York Times, Jan. 18, 2005
• "Breyer Sought Advice on Whether to Recuse in Sentencing Case," Legal Times, Jan. 18, 2005
• "Commentary: Flexibility May Not Shorten Sentences," The Daily Record, Jan. 13, 2005
• "Little Solace Seen in Ruling," Newsday, Jan. 14, 2005
• "Supreme Court Overturns Federal Sentencing Guidelines," Democracy Now, Jan. 14, 2005
  • Listen to Audio Stream
• "Supreme Court reform," National Public Radio News with Tony Cox, Jan. 14, 2005
• "Letting Judges Pass Judgment," New York Times Editorial, Jan. 14, 2005
• "The Court on Sentencing," Washington Post Editorial, Jan. 14, 2005
• "Legal Experts Debate Court Decision's Effect on Federal System," Washington Post, Jan. 13, 2005
• "Chaos Ahead After Sentencing Guidelines Decision," New York Sun, Jan. 13, 2005
• "How Judges Will Use Discretion Is the Big Question," Los Angeles Times, Jan. 13, 2005
• "Supreme Court: Sentencing Guidelines Advisory, Not Mandatory," Legal Times, Jan. 13, 2005
• "High Court Voids 'Mandatory' Sentencing," Washington Times, Jan. 13, 2005
• "Top Court: Sentencing Rules Not Mandatory," Reuters, Jan. 12, 2005
• "Supreme Court Shakes Sentencing Guidelines. Judges Improperly Adding Time," ABC12/The Associated Press, Jan. 12, 2005
• "Supreme Court Rules Judges Are Not Bound by Sentencing Rules," New York Times, January 12, 2005
• "High Court Finds Judges Wrongly Added Prison Time," National Public Radio, January 12, 2005

NACDL Immediate Past President Barry Scheck authored an Op-Ed in the Washington Post on December 7th, 2004. Here is his original article plus responses from both the Assistant Attorney General Dan Bryant , and the President of Families Against Mandatory Minimums Julie Stewart:

• "Mandatory Madness," Barry Scheck, Washington Post, Dec. 7, 2004 ( p. A25)
• "Violent or Recidivist Prisoners," Dan Bryant, Washington Post, Dec. 18, 2004 (p. A25)
• "Facts And Fallacies On Sentencing," Julie Stewart, Washington Post, Dec. 28, 2004 (p. A18)

Other News:

• "Sentencing Guidelines on Trial," Joseph A. Slobodzian, Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 12, 2004
• "Judge Questions Long Sentence in Drug Case", Nick Madigan, New York Times, Nov. 17, 2004
• "Rehab Justice," Judge Donald P. Lay, New York Times, Nov. 18, 2004

NACDL Spokespeople are available to discuss the aftermath of Booker and Fanfan:

Barry C. Scheck, NACDL Immediate Past President
Carmen Hernandez, NACDL First-Vice President
Gerald Lefcourt, NACDL Past-President
Tom Goldstein, NACDL amicus co-author
Samuel Buffone, NACDL amicus co-author

Mandatory Minimum Cases of Note:

United States v. Angelos (D. Utah, Cassell, J.)

Who We Are:

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) is the preeminent organization in the United States advancing the mission of the nation's criminal defense lawyers to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or other misconduct. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's more than 11,000 direct members -- and 82 state, local, and international affiliate organizations with another 28,000 members -- include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, active U.S. military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness within America's criminal justice system.

NACDL Officers:

President Barbara Bergman
President-Elect Martin Pinales
First Vice President Carmen Hernandez
Second Vice President John Wesley Hall, Jr.
Treasurer Stephen Glassroth
Immediate Past President Barry C. Scheck


This page is designed specifically for members of the press. If you have questions, or would like a list of potential sources for your story, please contact Public Affairs Director Jack King by e-mail at jack@nacdl.org, or by phone at 202-872-8600 x228.