Salamon Quoted in Law360 on Acquitted Conduct

Consumer Products senior associate Elie Salamon was quoted in the Law360 article, “Walls Start To Close In On Acquitted Conduct Sentencing.” The article discusses (1) Arnold & Porter’s petition for a writ of certiorari in McClinton v. United States, challenging the constitutionality of judges basing sentencing enhancements on acquitted conduct, and (2) the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s proposed amendment limiting the use of acquitted conduct at sentencing.

According to Salamon, “What's happening is that the government will lose its case at trial on the most serious charges because it's unable to satisfy its burden of proof to the jury of proving the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. And then it essentially gets a second bite at the apple, which it almost always wins by making its lost case to the judge and only having to prove it by a lesser standard of preponderance of the evidence.”

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