D. Brock Hornby on Federal Sentencing

D. Brock Hornby of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine authored an article for the Spring 2019 issue of Judicature entitled, “Can Federal Sentencing Remain Transparent?”

The following is an excerpt from the article:

Criminal trials have virtually disappeared in many federal courtrooms. According to a recent U.S. Sentencing Commission report, “[i]n recent years, 97 percent of federal defendants convicted of a felony or Class A misdemeanor offense are adjudicated guilty based on a guilty plea rather than on a verdict at a trial.” But sentencing has seemed to remain visible. In open court, federal judges traditionally explained to victims, the defendant, and the community the sentences they imposed. Now sentencing’s openness is in jeopardy, as federal prosecutors and defense counsel seek to conceal or disguise defendants’ cooperation with prosecutors or law enforcement and how that cooperation decreases their sentences.

Judge Hornby has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine since 1990, and served as Chief Judge from 1996 to 2003. He formerly was a justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and U.S. magistrate judge for the District Court for the District of Maine. Before joining the bench, he was a partner at Perkins, Thompson, Hinckley & Keddy in Portland, Maine, and a professor at UVA School of Law.

Read the full piece here.

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