93rd Annual Meeting
Wednesday, May 18

Daily Update - Wednesday, May 18

The last day of the Annual Meeting opened with the Model Penal Code: Sentencing project session. Reporters Kevin R. Reitz and Cecelia M. Klingele were joined by ALI Council member Wallace Jefferson. Sections 1.02(2) (Purposes and Principles of Construction); 6.04A (Victim Restitution); 6.07 (Credit Against the Sentence for Time Spent in Custody); 6.14 (Restorative-Justice Practices); and 6B.07 (Use of Criminal History) were presented to membership.

Actions Taken
Motions to amend Sections 6.04A and 6B.07 were approved during the discussion. Membership then approved all presented sections, including amended versions of Sections 6.04A and 6B.07, subject to the discussion at the Meeting and to the usual editorial prerogative. In view of the discussion, Section 6.14 was approved by membership with the understanding that if recommended edits result in substantive changes, Section 6.14 will be reintroduced to membership for further vote.

With today’s draft approval, the Sentencing project is on track to be completed at next year’s Annual Meeting.

During a break from project sessions, Young Scholar Medal Recipient Michael Simkovic of Seton Hall University School of Law presented “What Can We Learn from Credit Markets.” He opened with a quote from, Oliver Wendell Holmes from his address entitled The Path of the Law: “For the rational study of the law, the blackletter man may be the man of the present, but the man of the future is the man of statistics and the master of economics.” Professor Simkovic presented evidence that “Holmes’ vision of a legal system informed by economic and statistical analysis continues to inspire a new generation of legal scholars.” 

The Members Luncheon today featured speaker Judge William H. Pryor, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.  In his speech, “The Future of Federal Sentencing Guidelines,” Judge Pryor examined the history and complications of federal sentencing guidelines and offered his thoughts on potential solutions.

The final project on the agenda this year was Restatement of the Law Fourth, The Foreign Relations Law of the United States – Sovereign Immunity, Jurisdiction, and Treaties.  Council member Douglas Laycock joined Coordinating Reporters Sarah H. Cleveland and Paul B. Stephan, Jurisdiction Reporters William S. Dodge, Treaties Reporters Curtis A. Bradley and Edward T. Swaine, and Sovereign Immunity Reporters David P. Stewart, as they presented sections from each portion of the project.

Members discussed Sovereign Immunity: Chapter 5, Sections 455-456, 459, 461-463 (Immunity of States from Jurisdiction); Jurisdiction: Part II. Prescription. Chapter 1, Sections 201-203; 205 (Exercise of Prescriptive Jurisdiction by the United States); Chapter 2, Sections 211-217 (Customary International Law Governing Jurisdiction to Prescribe); Chapter 3, Sections 221-222 (Effect of Foreign Exercises of Prescriptive Jurisdiction); Part III. Adjudication. Chapter 1, Sections 301-306 (Jurisdiction to Adjudicate in Civil Cases); and Treaties: Chapter 2, Sections 101, 103, 107-109 (Status of Treaties in United States Law).

Actions Taken
Section 204 of the Jurisdiction, Part II Draft was presented to membership for discussion only. Subject to the discussion at the Meeting and to the usual editorial prerogative, the members voted to approve all sections of the drafts.