The blog has been on accidental hiatus in recent weeks while me and some friends opened a new law firm. I’m back, and plan to be posting regularly once again.
In April, the United States Sentencing Commission approved the 2014 Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Congress had until 11/1/14 to disapprove them and, since they didn’t, the new guidelines are now effective. That might not sound very exciting, but the 2014 guidelines create a major reduction in federal drug sentences. The reductions will be applied retroactively and tens of thousands of federal drug offenders will have their sentences shortened.
What are federal sentencing guidelines?
The federal sentencing guidelines are a set of rules that define a range of sentences for any federal crime. The guidelines are concerned with two things: the seriousness of the crime, known as the “offense level” and the offender’s criminal history. A higher offense level, and a greater criminal history yield a longer sentencing range. The judge does not need to stay within the guideline range, but the guidelines must be calculated in every case and the majority of sentences end up within the range.
The federal courts only prosecute certain crimes and chief among those are drug crimes. In those cases, the drug quantity is usually the key factor in determining the offense level. The 2014 guidelines change the drug quantity table to reduce the offense level for any quantity of drugs by two levels. That can make a big difference. On average, the new guidelines will reduce drug sentences by around 20%. This sentencing table shows the guideline ranges for various offense levels.
Huge Resentencing Project
The Sentencing Commission voted unanimously in July to apply the 2014 drug quantity reductions retroactively. That means that approximately 46,000 federal inmates are eligible for resentencing under the new guidelines.
The commission agreed to delay prisoner releases based on the new sentences until November 1 of 2015. That means anyone who would get a reduced sentence and become eligible for release before that date will stay in prison until at least November 1, 2015. The delayed retroactivity will give the federal probation offices some time to get a handle on how the resentencing process is going to work and where to place the influx of prisoners being released years early. It’s going to be a major project and November 1, 2015 should be an interesting day.
Fundamental problems remain
The guidelines don’t change some of the most troubling aspects of federal drug sentencing. First, sentences will still be quite long, with the average sentence estimated to be 108 months or 9 years. Two other longstanding problems remain:
Crack vs. Powder Cocaine
The changes preserve the 18:1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing. For example, the new guidelines would give a sentence of about 10 years for distributing 840 grams of crack cocaine. If you deal in powder, it takes 15 kilograms to get that same sentence.
Mandatory Minimum Sentences
Federal mandatory minimum sentences are set by statute, not guidelines. Even where the guidelines might call for a much shorter sentence, mandatory minimums can force the judge to impose a 5, 10, 20 year or even a mandatory life sentence.