US Sentencing Commission Hearing Focuses on Acquitted Conduct

The US Sentencing Commission looked hard during a Wednesday hearing at how the Sentencing Guidelines account for acquitted conduct.

The proposed amendments relating to acquitted conduct took up the lion’s share of the agenda on day one of the two-day meeting.

The seven commissioners heard from the Judicial Conference’s Committee on Criminal Law, individual federal district and circuit court judges, the appellate chief for the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, an assistant federal public defender from the Middle District of Tennessee, several advisory groups, victim representatives, and formerly incarcerated individuals.

Although the practice of acquitted conduct sentencing ...