Elizabeth Holmes Post Sentencing Analysis

On Friday, 11/18/22, a federal judge sentenced Elizabeth Holmes to over eleven years in prison. Ms. Holmes was convicted after trial of a “fake it ’till you make it” fraud involving her company Theranos, and the revolutionary blood testing technology dream machine that was not to be. There are many lessons we can learn from

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H.R. 4261, the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Justice Act

On Tuesday, November 7, 2017, Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Jason Lewis (R-MN) introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at safely reining in the size and associated costs of the federal criminal code and prison system.  A press release with a link to the legislation can be here: https://bobbyscott.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/scott-lewis-introduce-bipartisan-criminal-justice-reform-legislation  

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Ineffective Assistance of Counsel at Sentencing

ineffective assistance of counsel

The American Bar Association’s “Criminal Justice Standards for the Defense Function” (4th ed.) strongly suggest that failure to research and cite favorable sentencing statistics may constitute ineffective assistance of counsel.  In the seminal case of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), the U.S. Supreme Court observed that “prevailing norms of practice as reflected in the

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