Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Sentencing Law and Policy

Criminal Law

: Sentencing Law and Policy

DOJ's basic game-plan while urging crack sentencing reform from Congress

By Douglas A. Berman

Here is a copy of the written testimony from Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee for this morning's hearing on federal crack sentencing (basics here).  The last two substantive paragraphs provide an outline of what DOJ is doing internally and also how it plans to proceed in upcoming cases: Earlier this month the Attorney General asked the Deputy Attorney General to form and chair a working group to examine federal sentencing and corrections policy. The group?s comprehensive review will include possible recommendations to the President and Congress for new sentencing legislation affecting the structure of federal sentencing. In addition to studying issues related to prisoner reentry, Department policies on charging and sentencing, and other sentencing-related topics, the group will also focus on formulating a new federal cocaine sentencing policy; one that completely eliminates the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine but also fully accounts for violence, chronic offenders, weapon possession and other aggravating factors associated ? in individual cases ? with both crack and powder cocaine trafficking...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on April 29, 2009 (boomark / email).