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Bill and Doug’s excellent adventure … debating mandatory minimums in Federalist Society Teleforum

By Douglas Berman

Bill and tedFor anyone who especially enjoys the verbal sparring between me and Bill Otis in the comments to this blog, you may want to quickly become a member of the Federalist Society so you can hear us go at in for a full hour as part of this exciting event being put on this afternoon by the FedSoc folks:

Is Eric Holder Right About Mandatory Minimums?

Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Group

Douglas Berman, William G. Otis

Start : Tuesday, September 3, 2013 2:00 PM

Location:  Federalist Society Teleforum Conference Call

On August 12, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department will no longer pursue mandatory minimum sentences for what he described as certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders.  Our experts will discuss Holder’s announcement and approach.  In addition, they will address a variety of other issues related to mandatory minimum sentencing, including the question whether or not mandatory minimums are conceptually sound.

Featuring:

  • Prof. William G. Otis, Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
  • Prof. Douglas A. Berman, Robert J. Watkins/Procter & Gamble Professor of Law, Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University

Registration details:

Teleforum calls are open to all dues paying members of the Federalist Society. To become a member, sign up here. As a member, you should receive email announcements of upcoming Teleforum calls which contain the conference call phone number. If you are not receiving those email announcements, please contact us at 202-822-8138.

Post-forum UPDATE: As you might have expected, Bill and I had a grand time talking past each other in an effort to highlight the pros and cons of mandatory minumum sentencing statutes. In all seriousness, I share Bill’s perspective appearing in the comments below that “listeners got a full airing of the most persuasive points on both sides.” And, valuably, you can still hear for yourself as a podcast of the hour-long discussion is now available from The Federalist Society via this link.