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Commentary: Mandatory minimum sentences are cruel and ineffective. Sessions wants them back.
Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions instructed the nation’s 2,300 federal prosecutors to pursue the most serious charges in all but exceptional cases. Rescinding a 2013 policy that sought to avoid mandatory minimums for low-level, nonviolent drug offenders, Sessions wrote it was the “moral and just” thing to do. Sessions couldn’t be more wrong. We served […]
A drug dealer got a life sentence and was devastated. So was the judge who sentenced him.
When Evans Ray Jr. stood in a federal courtroom in 2007 after arranging a drug sale, a judge explained, at length, that he didn’t want to hand down the mandatory life sentence required by law. “It is my desire not to sentence you to life,” Judge Alexander Williams Jr. said in his Greenbelt, Md., courtroom, […]
Five-year probation sentence canceled
The Fourth Department has canceled part of a sentence that was added by a judge after the defendant had left the courtroom. On June 1, 2016, Steven R. Brandon was sentenced in Ontario County Court to 30 days, plus fines, surcharges, and suspension of his driver’s license by state Supreme Court Justice Craig J. Doran, […]
A struggle to share personal pain in court
Katy Vilardo leaned back on her sofa next to her cat, Otis, opened her laptop and steeled herself. “When I would get in the car in the morning,” the 33-year-old typed, “the first thing I would do is call mom and dad.” It had been more than a year since she discovered their stabbed and […]
Supreme Court may circumscribe power of lay judges
New York has approximately 2,150 town and village court judges. Of those, 1,450 or nearly 70% are nonlawyers. That is the greatest number and highest percentage in the country. For years the media, good government groups, and even the Office of Court Administration have chronicled how these judges of “tiny courts” have engaged in “abuses […]
Roof found competent for sentencing, gets extra prep day
CHARLESTON, S.C. — After a judge ruled Monday that Dylann Roof is competent to represent himself, the same jury that last month unanimously found him guilty in the slayings of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church will return to court to begin contemplating his punishment. With the 22-year-old representing himself, the process is […]
New York man gets 30 years in prison in X-ray weapon plot
ALBANY — A New York industrial mechanic convicted of attempting to produce a mobile X-ray device intended to kill Muslims has been sentenced in federal court to 30 years in prison. Glendon Scott Crawford, 52, of Galway, also was ordered Monday by Judge Gary L. Sharpe to undergo a lifetime of supervised release after serving […]
NY inmate who sparked 3-week manhunt gets more prison time
PLATTSBURGH — A convicted killer already serving life behind bars was ordered Wednesday to pay restitution and sentenced to additional prison time for his daring escape last year from a maximum-security prison in northern New York. David Sweat was shot and captured in June near the Canadian border after a three-week manhunt. On Wednesday, he […]
Buffalo man sentenced on drug charges
A Buffalo man was sentenced to 24 months of probation after being convicted of obtaining and possessing a controlled substance by fraud. U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. said Christopher Gorzynski, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. On Oct. 3, the defendant, while working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, purchased prescription […]
Rochester man, 70, sentenced for illegal gambling operation
A Rochester businessman convicted of running an illegal gambling operation that involved a professional hockey player has been sentenced. Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday that 70-year-old Paul Borrelli was sentenced to three years’ probation and eight months home detention. He was ordered to pay a $1.2 million judgment and forfeit $3 million in properties, cash and […]
Second Circuit – Sentencing: United States v. Matta
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit – Sentencing – Outpatient/Inpatient Drug Treatment Programs – Discretion to Probation Officer United States v. Matta 13-4078-cr Judges Cabranes, Lohier and Engelmayer Background: The defendant had violated his supervised release and was sentenced to a term of 24-months imprisonment, followed by a 12-month period of […]
Fourth Department – Sentencing: People v. Viele
Appellate Division, Fourth Department – Sentencing – Preservation of Error People v. Viele KA 13–02217 Appealed from Erie County Court Background: The defendant pleaded guilty to Reckless Endangerment of a Child second degree, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. At the time of the plea, the judge stated that he was “inclined” to impose […]
Case Digests
- Court of Appeals – Speedy trial: People v. Justice A.
- Fourth Department – Traffic stop: People v. McMillon
- Second Circuit – Fair Labor Standards Act: Abbott v. Comme Des Garcons, Ltd.
- Second Circuit – Plea agreements: Cook v. United States
- Fourth Department: Statute of limitations: Marino v. Weiler
- Fourth Department – Nail and mail service: Rebutting presumption of service L&W Supply Corporation v. Built-Rite Drywall Corp, et al
- Fourth Department – Mental Hygiene Law: Charles L. v. State of New York
- Second Circuit – Medicaid and Medicare certification: U.S. ex rel. Quartararo v. Cath. Health Sys. Of Long Island Inc.
- Fourth Department – Waiver of indictment: People v. King
- Fourth Department – Speedy trial: People v. Jordan
- Fourth Department – Rosario material: People v. Dennard
- Second Circuit – Magnuson-Stevens Act: State of New York v. Raimondo
Law News
- Split court affirms gun conviction
- N.Y. Court of Appeals reverses gun conviction
- NY board approves cannabis lawsuit settlements, paves way for retail dispensaries
- NY Court of Appeals reverses murder conviction because of illegal police search
- NY Court of Appeals reverses gun conviction over ineffective counsel
- Split court affirms gun conviction, finding search and arrest were legal
- NY appeals court vacates drug conviction over illegal police search
- Split Court of Appeals strips Police Accountability Board of disciplinary power
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