Tag: federal sentencing

Source: ussc.gov 8/8/24 Priorities Reflect Calls to Simplify Sentencing, Reduce the Costs of Unnecessary Incarceration,  and Promote Public Safety  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Each year, the bipartisan U.S. Sentencing Commission votes to adopt priorities that will guide its annual policymaking process. This summer, the Commission solicited priorities from the public, asking how the agency can improve federal sentencing. In response, the Commission received more than 1,200 pages of insightful comments from judges, members of Congress, executive branch officials, probation officers, advisory groups, attorneys, professors, advocates, organizations, incarcerated individuals, and others. Today,…

Source: Judge Carlton W. Reeves, Chair, U.S. Sentencing Commission 6/5/24 I’m writing to ask you for a small favor. Most summers, the Sentencing Commission announces the work we plan to prioritize over the coming year. This summer, to mark the 40th anniversary of the Commission’s creation (and twenty years post Booker), we’re doing something different. We’re asking people – including you – to tell us what to do this year and in the years to come. My request is this: please take five minutes of your time to tell the…

[thecrimereport.org – 2/10/21] Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio found that Black and Hispanic Americans charged in federal sex abuse cases are receiving disproportionately harsher sentences In a recent study published in the journal Sexual Abuse, the researchers explored what they said was a trend in more severe punishment over the past decade since Congress has enacted several pieces of legislation aimed at increasing the punishment in federal sex offender and child pornography cases. The researchers University of Texas at San Antonio criminology and criminal justice professors…

[ussc.gov – 1/1/19] Summary (Published January 2019) This publication examines the application of mandatory minimum penalties specific to federal sex offenses; it is the sixth and final release in the Commission’s series of publications on mandatory minimum penalties. Using fiscal year 2016 data, this publication includes analyses of the two types of federal sex offenses carrying mandatory minimum penalties, sexual abuse offenses and child pornography offenses, as well their impact on the Federal Bureau of Prisons population. In addition to analyzing child pornography offenses generally, this publication analyzes child pornography…

[ussc.gov – 12/13/19] During a public meeting this morning, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to publish for comment proposed amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines, including a proposal concerning how sentencing courts determine if a prior conviction is a “crime of violence” under the guidelines. (Read proposals and press release.) Today’s proposed amendment would enable the sentencing courts to consider the conduct that formed the basis of the offense of conviction as well as the elements of the statute of conviction. The Commission is requesting input on this proposal and the…

[foxnews.com 4/27/18] Bills labeled “criminal justice reform” have circulated in Congress for the past three years, but while they are well-meaning, they would do far more harm than good. This includes a measure sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, titled the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act. The Grassley legislation would make our communities less safe by returning still more convicted criminals from federal prisons to the streets sooner. In addition, the Grassley bill would tie up hundreds of federal prosecutors, who would be forced to deal with sentencing reduction motions…