New Sentencing Commission Ruling the One We Were Waiting For
by Derek Gilna
The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which we all know is the key player in sentencing relief reform, has published what can only be termed an historic ruling making the two-point reduction for non-violent offenders a reality, effectively reducing 20% from sentences.
After an appropriate period for hearings and review, the changes should be effective by November of 2014. For those of us that have pressed for these changes for almost a decade, it can’t come soon enough.
For those of you keeping score, this relief is in no way dependent upon Congressional action. Congress has its own sentence reform legislation slowly making its way through the legislative process,
This development does not come as a complete surprise, after the endorsement of a reduction by Attorney General Holder and the lack of organized opposition to sentence reductions, except from prison guards unions.
What’s unknown at this time is the question of retroactivity, but if recent past history is any indicator, there will be retroactivity. Of course, it will be slowly implemented, as the Justice Department and the BOP try to avoid the appearance of a large-scale prisoner release. It is estimated that up to 10,000 current prisoners in the federal system will be positively affected, not counting those in the pipeline who have yet to be sentenced.
A quick aside: there can be no question that federal judges, although presumed by the public to have unlimited power, are in fact highly circumscribed in what they can rule. Congratulations to those judges, such as the ones in the 6th Circuit in the initial Blewett decision, whose courage have helped bring about a change in public perception of the propriety of federal drug sentencing policy and helped move this process along.
Judges read newspapers also, and after this announcement should be much more receptive to post-conviction motions to reduce sentences than they have been. If you have been sitting on the fence, it is time to reconsider your options for judicial relief.
