The Global Times and the Beijing Times report Ren Jianyu, a 25-year-old former village official in Chongqing, was released from a labour camp after local authorities found his labour camp sentence "improper".
In his first public comments on the case, Mr. Khatami said on Wednesday that the sentence was "improper" and should not be carried out.
Now some courts have begun to push back, saying these heavy sentences are improper, and a new emphasis has arisen on making sex offenders pay monetary damages for their crimes.
Britain's insider trading investigation has resulted in five prison sentences, the most recent being for Malcolm Calvert, a former top trader at Cazenove, a British broker dealer, who was convicted of earning £103,000 from improper trades and was sentenced this month to 21 months in prison.
The justices on Monday turned away the appeal of Duane Buck, who wanted them to consider whether race played an improper role in his sentencing.
Numerous studies associated sentence length with improper considerations, such as the offender's race.
A spokesman for Keele University said: "This has been a long and sad case, stretching back to 1998, which we are glad is over, but we feel it is improper to comment on the sentence passed".
"It is improper to vacate a death sentence based on pure speculation of fundamental unfairness," Scalia continued.
"It is abundantly clear that no reference was made to previous sentences imposed for improper conduct and other charges, which in the club's view is unfair and unduly harsh on the player, the club and its supporters.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen state lawmakers on Friday sent a letter to the state commission on judicial performance, which investigates complaints against judges, arguing that his sentencing decision reflected "improper misconduct".
