Sentencing Commission To Report On Mandatory Minimum Sentencing February 9, 2010
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , trackbackNearly 20 years after its groundbreaking report condemning mandatory minimum sentencing, the United States Sentencing ommission will publish a new mandatory minimum report in 2010. While the Commission has made a mandatory minimum report one of its potential priorities for the last several years, it was a directive from Congress that moved the completion of the report to the forefront. Congress directed the Commission to produce the report, which would, among other things, assess:
- the effect of federal mandatory minimums on the goal of eliminating unwarranted sentencing disparity;
- the compatibility of mandatory minimums and advisory guidelines;
- the interaction between mandatory minimums and plea agreements; and
- mechanisms, other than mandatory minimums, that the Commission can use to address sentencing policy.
FAMM is looking forward to the report and will encourage the Commission to reiterate its strong opposition to mandatory minimums and refrain from making recommendations that would undermine the current advisory guideline system.
Leading the effort is the Commission’s new chair, Judge William K. Sessions, III, who was confirmed on October 29 and will serve until the end of the current Congress in 2010. Judge Sessions has served the Commission as a vice chair since he joined the body in 1999. He has been a strong champion for crack cocaine sentencing reform. Judge Sessions is the Chief Judge of the District of Vermont.
The Commission has sponsored a series of regional hearings designed to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 and to review and evaluate federal sentencing policy. They end in January with a final hearing in Phoenix, Arizona (January 20-21). Testimony from judges and practitioners has strongly endorsed the advisory guideline system, while condemning mandatory minimums. To view testimony from the hearings, visit the Sentencing Guidelines page on www.famm.org.
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