Retroactivity Takes Another Step Forward
By Derek Gilna
On June 10,
the U.S. Sentencing Commission took testimony regarding making the two-level
reduction retroactive. It has indicated
that it will accept public comment on this issue through their email address of
public_comment@ussc.gov. Pass
this on to your friends and relatives.
To recap,
this round of reductions will only affect drug offenders. White collar offenders’ possible reductions
are still in the discussion stage, with no discernible timeline for
adoption. However, the two-level
reduction first came under serious discussion by the Commission a little more
than one year ago, so we will watch this closely. Although there has been no mention of career
offenders in this scenario, mandatory minimum sentences will definitely be
eligible for reduction.
The
Commission has published two studies that indicate that retroactivity will be
occurring, including one that discusses the impact of retroactivity on the
length of sentences, and one that shows that people receiving sentence relief
under the crack laws come back to jail at a lower rate than those who received
no relief. The Commission has already done the math on who will be released,
and it projects that up to 50,000 current prisoners would be released over a
6-year period, a very welcome number, to be sure. Almost 5,000 would be
eligible for immediate release. There’s
something about that word, “immediate,” that caught my attention.
As with the Crack Laws,
modifications of sentence will be made based upon petitions filed under 18
U.S.C Section 3581(c)(2), will not be affected by the Booker decision, and will
not require the defendant’s presence in court to gain relief. Therefore, filing
a well-drafted petition to take advantage of this new sentence relief becomes
even more critical
