Sentencing Commission Report on Racial Disparities: In November 2017, the U.S. Sentencing Commission published a report, examining the relationship between demographic factors, such as race and gender, on sentencing outcomes for the time period October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2016. A synopsis of the report is available here. The link to the full report as available below. The Sentencing Resource Counsel’s 2018 Fact Sheet: USSC Report on Racial Disparity and 2011 Fact Sheet: Racial Fairness in the Advisory Guidelines System are available below.
Fact Sheet: USSC Report on Racial Disparity is Flawed and Being Misused (Jan. 2018)
USSC Demographic Differences in Sentencing (Nov. 2017)
Fact Sheet: Racial Fairness in the Advisory Guidelines System (Dec. 2011)
New Amendments to the Guidelines Take Effect November 1, 2018: The Commission adopted significant changes to the drug guidelines concerning synthetic cathinones, sythetic cannabinoids, and fentanyl analogues, to include new departure and enhancement provisions. The amended guidelines also contain changes to the illegal reentry guideline, acceptance of responsibility, alternatives to incarceration, and considerations for prior tribal court convictions. Read more on the amendments in the National Sentencing Resource Counsel Project's Summary of 2018 Amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines. For the full text, see the Reader-Friendly Version of Amendments
Sentencing Commission Adopts Amendment to the "Crimes of Violence" Definition in Guideline § 4B1.2: Among other changes, the amendment strikes burglary of a dwelling from the crimes of violence definition and deletes the residual clause. View all of the changes to § 4B1.2 in this Official Text of Crime of Violence Amendment. The new amendment will take effect August 1, 2016. For more on the Amendment see the Sentencing Commission's press release.
Practice Guide to Amendments to "Crime of Violence" Definition in USSG § 4B1.2(a)
Offenses Moved from the Commentary to the Enumerated Offense Clause at USSG § 4 B1.2, Effective August 1, 2016
Guideline § 4B1.2 Commentary Offenses
National Sentencing Resource Counsel Project's Summaries of Prior Amendments:
2016 Summary
2015 Summary
2014 Summary
2013 Summary
Defender Recommendations to Sentencing Commission: The Federal Defender community frequently submits written comments to the USSC on a variety of matters, including proposed amendments to the guidelines. These submissions, which may provide ideas for challenging guideline sentences, can be accessed on our Defender Recommendations to Sentencing Commission page.