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January 10, 2005
Message from the Sentencing Project re: upcoming Supreme Court decision on Federal Sentencing
Friends,
A Supreme Court decision is expected soon -- as early as January 11th -- in the cases of Booker and Fanfan regarding the constitutionality of the federal sentencing guidelines. Many observers believe that the Court will find at least part of the guidelines structure unconstitutional, leading to Congressional action to modify the guidelines structure.
Debate has already begun regarding the policy direction of any possible changes to federal sentencing. In arguing for a continued emphasis on harsh punishments, recent testimony by the Department of Justice contends that “two-thirds of all federal prisoners are in prison for violent crimes or had a prior criminal record before being incarcerated.” But a new analysis by The Sentencing Project finds that the Department’s analysis distorts the composition of the federal prison system through the manner in which it conflates categories of offenders. In fact, nearly three-fourths (72.1%) of federal prisoners are non-violent offenders with no history of violence.
A complete overview of the federal prison population -- including growth trends, racial disparities, drug offense sentencing -- can be found at http://www.sentencingproject.org/pdfs/federalprison.pdf
For more information and analysis please contact Marc Mauer or Ryan King at (202) 628-0871.
Marc Mauer
Assistant Director
The Sentencing Project
514 10th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
mauer@sentencingproject.org
(202) 628-0871
Posted by lois at January 10, 2005 10:37 AM