More House Booker hearing follow-up testimony

In this recent post, I noted the compelling supplemental written testimony from attorney James Felman, which followed up on his work at the March 16 House hearing on Booker.  Today I finally received a copy of Distict Judge Paul Cassell’s supplemental testimony, which can be downloaded below and is also a very interesting read. 

Judge Cassell’s supplemental work includes a thoughtful examination of the six cases that the Justice Department cited to argue that the Booker sentencing system was not working.  (Notably, most of these cases involve pre-Booker sentencings reviewed by the Ninth Circuit in ways that simply reflect Booker transition issues.) Judge Cassell’s testimony also incorporates a letter and study from Chief Judge Wolf of the District of Massachusetts, which suggests that many cases that the US Sentencing Commission has counted as judicial departures/variances may actually involve actually govt-sponsored departures.

Download cassell_supplemental_house_booker_testimony.pdf

Some related prior posts:

• Topless guidelines bill in the works from Sensenbrenner
• A viewer’s guide to Booker House hearing
• Following the standard script at House hearing
• More reports from House Booker hearings
• House Booker hearing follow-up
• Sensenbrenner takes the gloves off … will the judiciary fight back?
• Quotes from Sensenbrenner press conference
• Updates on Booker hearings
• Let’s get ready to Booker rumble…