Unlocking the Sentencing Guidelines, a Virtual Series: Session 17 - 2025 Guideline Amendments – Eliminating departures & elevating 3553(a) factors

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has issued amendments to the sentencing guidelines that will become effective November 1, 2025, unless Congress disapproves them. This webinar focuses on a set of amendments the Commission calls “Simplification of the Three-Step Process.” The Commission is eliminating what is now the second step of a three-step process: Commission-approved “departures.” As amended, the Guidelines Manual will provide a two-step process: (1) correctly calculate the applicable guideline range and then (2) determine an appropriate sentence upon consideration of all the factors set forth by Congress in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). After this webinar, attendees will understand why the Sentencing Commission made this change, how the new Manual will look, and how we can use the change to get lower sentences for our clients.

Presenters

Shelley Fite is an attorney with the National Sentencing Resource Counsel Project of the Federal Public & Community Defenders.lthough Shelley was born and raised in Florida, she has spent her professional career in Wisconsin as a public defender of one kind or the other and is based in Madison, Wisconsin. After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2006 and clerking with U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, Shelley worked first an appellate attorney with Wisconsin's State Public Defender and then an associate federal defender with Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin. She joined the Sentencing Resource Counsel Project in March of 2021.

Cherrelle Herbert is an attorney with the National Sentencing Resource Counsel (SRC), a project of the Federal Public and Community Defenders. Prior to working with SRC, Cherrelle worked as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the District of Puerto Rico and as an Assistant Public Defender in Miami-Dade, Florida. Cherrelle earned her J.D. from Cardozo Law School and her B.A. from Stanford University. She is originally from the Virgin Islands, where she now resides. Cherrelle has presented at the National Seminar for Federal Public Defenders, the Multi-Track Federal Criminal Defense Seminar, and for various CJA panels.

CLE

We have applied for CLE accreditation in states that have mandatory requirements. We regret that we cannot respond to telephone inquiries regarding the status of CLE approval prior to the webinar. All information related to CLE will be emailed to attendees within 15-30 days following the program.

• To minimize reporting fees per attorney/program, if you are barred in more than one of the following states NM, TN, PA, NE, attendance will be reported to one state only.
• The attorney is responsible for making sure the appropriate state and bar number is on file with the DSO Training Division.
• For applicable states, attendance will be reported using the bar number and state(s) listed on the registration form submitted for this program.
• Failure to provide the state and bar number may result in the Training Division not being able to report your attendance.