From ‘Booker’ to ‘Brooker’: A Return to Judicial Discretion in Sentencing

From ‘Booker’ to ‘Brooker’: A Return to Judicial Discretion in Sentencing

December 22, 2022, New York Law Journal

On May 2, 2000, Kelly Clark appeared for sentencing before Judge Denny Chin of the Southern District of New York. He had been convicted of a conspiracy to distribute heroin, racketeering, and conspiracy to commit racketeering and his Sentencing Guideline range was 360 months to life in prison. Judge Chin sentenced him to 30 years because he did not feel the circumstances called for “a life sentence for a 23-year old.”