Sentencing

Two Democrats in the Virginia Senate joined with Republicans on Monday to defeat a measure 21-19 that would have eliminated hundreds of mandatory minimum sentences (view full article).

It would have eliminated all mandatory minimums, except in the case of a conviction for the aggravated murder of a law-enforcement officer. Many of the penalties were adopted decades ago as part of the tough-on-crime movement, which some lawmakers blame for mass incarceration.

Last week, the Department of Justice announced it would begin transferring thousands of people out of federal prisons as part of the First Step Act.

FAMM has published First Step Act Earned Time Credits Rule Explainer. Key information include:

Who is eligible to apply FSA Time Credits toward pre-release custody or supervised release?

The Justice Department will begin transferring thousands of people out of federal prisons this week as part of a sweeping criminal justice overhaul signed more than three years ago (access full article).

The death penalty in Kentucky has been used sparingly in the last 30-plus years, but its use shows racial biases, according to a new report from local researchers and other experts (view full article).

In cases eligible for the death penalty, those with white victims have been far more likely to end in the convict being sentenced to death, according to a report from Professor Frank Baumgartner at UNC Chapel-Hill and the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Kansas woman pleads guilty without plea agreement to her charge. District court, in deciding what sentence to impose, states when there is no plea agreement, the sentence will be somewhere in the middle of the Guidelines range. Woman: objection! That is not a valid basis. District court: Objection overruled. Here's a sentence above the low-end of the Guidelines range based on my practice. Circuit Court: Not good.

The United States Sentencing Commission has scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday, July 19, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (EDT). The hearing will be held at the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, One Columbus Circle, N.E., in the Commissioners' Conference Room of Suite 2-500 (South Lobby) (view notice).

Today, the United States Sentencing Commission published its notice of Proposed 2023-2024 priorities for the 2023-2024 Amendment cycle in the federal register, view notice.

The proposed priorities for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2024, are as follows:

Eleven years ago this month, the Supeme Court held that mandatory life-without parole sentences for all children 17 or younger was unconstitutional. See Miller v. Albama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012). Today, the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth reports that "1,000 individuals who were sentenced to life in prison as children are now FREE!" View Full Story.

The Campaign noted some compelling facts about this group of individuals, now freed:

Washington, D.C., police officer's son after a judge vacated his death sentence and three firearms convictions (view full article).

Lighty, who was 19 at the time of the January 2002 kidnapping and killing, was one of three defendants convicted in the crime. The other two men received life sentences for their roles.

Two former governors of Alabama from opposite sides of the political aisle published an opinion piece in The Washington Post calling for the state to put an end to executing people who were sent to death row by a split jury, and for Alabama to commute the sentences of 146 death row inmates.