Friday, October 21, 2011

Updates: Crack Sentencing Circuit Split

The beat goes on.

A few updates related to the circuit split about crack sentencing, discussed Tuesday on this blog.

1-On Wednesday, the Fifth Circuit joined the split, holding that the FSA does not apply to "sentencing for illegal conduct that preceded the FSA’s enactment." Professor Doug Berman's Sentencing Law and Policy blog has coverage here.

2-Also, Sentencing Law and Policy posted a Supreme Court brief filed two weeks ago, addressing the circuit split. In it, the respondent United States encourages the Court to grant certiorari and reverse, confirming its disagreement with the Seventh and Eighth Circuit decisions that it won below. See pages 7-8.

3-Footnote one on page 8 of the brief collects related cases pending before the Supreme Court.