Major Amendments to Sentencing Guidelines to Take Effect Friday

Significant amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines, approved by the US Sentencing Commission in April, take effect Friday.

Under the new guidelines, acquitted conduct is excluded from the definition of “relevant conduct” that courts may consider when calculating a defendant’s sentence under the guidelines. Where certain conduct underlies both an acquitted charge and an offense of conviction, courts may still consider such conduct insofar as it establishes, in whole or in part, the offense of conviction.

The change is one that many—including US Supreme Court justices on both ends of the ideological spectrum—have been encouraging for years. But it’s ...