Biden Names Seven to Restock US Sentencing Commission (1)

President Joe Biden announced a bipartisan slate of nominees to the US Sentencing Commission, which would give the panel its first quorum since 2019.

The list of seven nominees released Wednesday includes US District Judge Carlton W. Reeves of the Southern District of Mississippi who, if confirmed by the Senate, would be the first Black chair in the commission’s history.

The Sentencing Commission, which sets the framework federal judges use when deciding how to calculate criminal sentences, hasn’t had a quorum since January 2019. As a result, courts have relied on outdated guidance in areas like compassionate release requests that ...