Author Archives: David S. Zapp and Johanna S. Zapp

The following article regarding the “three-strikes” law in California was recently published in the New York Times. It brings attention to the often overlooked issue of overincarceration.

Justice Anthony Kennedy spoke out against excessive prison sentences this month in California, criticizing the state’s deeply misguided three-strikes law. It was a welcome […]

The following article also appeared in the New York Times recently. It addresses high incarceration rates and the need for sentencing reform.

The nation’s criminal justice system is in need of an overhaul. This is particularly true of its incarceration policies. Too many people are being put behind bars who do […]

In United States v. Peguero, No. 07-2306-cr (2d Cir. August 19, 2009), the appellate court vacated a sentence where the district court presumed that the guideline sentence was reasonable by saying, “I have the ability to do justice and depart [or impose] a sentence independently of the Guidelines, but my opinion […]

Some alleged large scale drug traffickers (LSDT) who are detained believe that if they make a clean breast of all they know and did, they will receive a good plea bargain. This is not so. If the information a LSDT provides is not beneficial to the Government, the Government will […]

This article was written by Steve Statsinger for the Second Circuit Blog published by Federal Defenders in New York

United States v. Garcia, No. 08-1621-cr (2d Cir. December 1, 2009)

In Cuellar v. United States, 128 S.Ct. 1994 (2008), the Court held that, for the crime of transportation money laundering under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(2)(B)(i), […]

Question: What do Probation Officers do and why are they important? How many times does a defendant meet with a Probation Officer?

Answer: After a defendant pleads, a Probation Officer (PO) is assigned to the case. The PO calls the defendant’s attorney and schedules an interview (always insist upon having […]

Below is a copy of a letter I received from a concerned Colombian attorney regarding Colombian defendants and the problems that exist within the extradition process.
My response follows.

Dear Mr. Zapp,

Greetings on behalf of the families of victims requested in extradition by the United States. I am an attorney and […]

This is an abridged version of an article by Nicholas D. Kristof that I read in The New York Times. My response follows the article.

At a time when we Americans may abandon health care reform because it supposedly is “too expensive,” how is it that we can afford to imprison people […]

By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Published: August 17, 2009

You have probably heard the rumor that most American paper currency is contaminated with cocaine. It’s not a rumor, however — it’s true.

And it’s even truer now. A study by Yuegang Zuo of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and colleagues has found that about […]