US Sentencing Commission Votes for Major Guideline Amendments

The US Sentencing Commission voted unanimously to prohibit courts from considering acquitted conduct when calculating a defendant’s guidelines sentence.

“Not guilty means not guilty,” said Commission Chair Judge Carlton W. Reeves in a Wednesday press release. “By enshrining this basic fact within the federal sentencing guidelines, the Commission is taking an important step to protect the credibility of our courts and criminal justice system.”

If approved by Congress, one of the proposed amendments would provide that “relevant conduct” doesn’t include conduct for which the defendant was charged and acquitted in federal court, unless the conduct, in whole or in ...