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Effective media coverage of the new proposed federal sentencing guidelines

By Douglas A. Berman

The Philadelphia Daily News has this effective new piece headlined "Defendants could benefit from new federal sentencing guidelines." Here are excerpts: Current sentencing guidelines say that the age and medical condition of a defendant are "not ordinarily relevant" factors when deciding whether leniency is warranted at sentencing, but they soon could be. After Nov. 1, these kinds of personal characteristics "may be relevant" provided they are "present to an unusual degree" under new guidelines recently adopted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, if Congress doesn't disapprove them.... And the new rules also permit judges to send certain nonviolent drug offenders to drug- or alcohol-abuse treatment centers instead of prison. All judges use the guidelines as the starting point in calculating sentences, and many typically sentence defendants within the guidelines - which often means prison time - unless prosecutors request leniency on behalf of cooperating witnesses...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 14, 2010 (boomark / email).