I was so excited to see Prez Biden announce his first slate of judicial nominations in part because I have been presuming that we would not get needed nomination to the US Sentencing Commission until at least some judge nominees were first put forward. (Ever the fan of semantic technicalities, I think we should also call any nomination to the USSC to be "judicial nominees" given that the USSC is the only agency located in the judicial branch.) Adding to my excitement is this recent Roll Call article suggesting that nominations are in the works and may be able to be advanced quickly through Congress in a bipartisan manner. I recommend the lengthy Roll Call article in full, and its full title highlights its themes: "Help wanted: Revived commission could spark criminal justice changes: Key judicial agency hasn’t had enough members to function for years." Here are excerpts:
The judicial agency that sets such policies hasn’t had enough members to function for years. “What’s happened is, we’re frozen in time,” said Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer, the lone remaining member of the seven-person U.S. Sentencing Commission.
That could soon change. The Biden administration has reached out to key lawmakers and the criminal justice community for guidance on a slate of appointments to revive the sentencing commission, a move that also could influence congressional efforts to further change the nation’s criminal justice system.
President Joe Biden will make those picks against the backdrop of a simmering debate about fairness in the nation’s criminal justice system, after a summer of social unrest related to police misconduct sparked a focus on racial inequity in the criminal justice system more broadly. Advocates say sentencing is a crucial consideration when it comes to overhaul. A bipartisan group of senators on Friday reintroduced a broad sentencing overhaul bill, which includes provisions that direct the sentencing commission to act to implement it....
The commission must include two additional federal judges, and no more than four members can be from the same political party. The Senate must approve the members. The last confirmation vote was for Breyer’s reappointment, four years ago this month, at the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency. Breyer is the brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer, and his term on the commission expires in October.
Trump made nominations for the sentencing commission, including two federal judges with reputations for tough-on-crime approaches. But those nominees went nowhere because they raised concerns from civil rights groups, Senate Democrats and Iowa Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley about whether those members would carry out the changes in the 2018 law known as the First Step Act. Grassley, when he was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, championed the bill with now-Chair Richard J. Durbin of Illinois. The Senate passed the bill, 87-12, and it became one of Congress’ few major bipartisan accomplishments in recent years.
Grassley said this week that he has had conversations that indicate the Biden administration is working to avoid Senate confirmation problems for a slate of nominees to the sentencing commission “because both they — the White House —and this senator, and I’m sure a lot of other senators, want to get the commission up and running so it can do its work.”
Durbin said in a written response to questions that the commission “can play a vital role in sentencing reform by informing Congress about federal sentencing developments.” But he also hinted at broader aims for the commission. “For too long, federal sentencing policies have had a disparate impact on Black and brown Americans,” Durbin said. “Our sentencing policies have to reflect fairer standards.”...
Breyer said the Judicial Conference is currently considering a list of judges to submit to the White House for consideration, and he anticipates that the White House will put forward a slate of six nominees. Until then, he said, “I think we’re in crisis.” The sentencing structure was designed to change over time and be guided by experience, he said. “And it’s an understandable tendency that if the guidelines don’t reflect reality that they’re ignored or given less weight,” Breyer added.
A few prior recent related posts:
Comments
Post a Comment