ABA’s suggested priorities for the USSC
Today I received a copy of a letter just submitted to the US Sentencing Commission on behalf of the American Bar Association regarding the USSC’s priorities for the 2008 amendment cycle. The letter, which is especially interesting in light of current commutation conversations, can be downloaded below. Here is how it begins:
I write on behalf of the American Bar Association (“ABA”) regarding the Commission’s priorities for the 2008 amendment cycle. Our recommendations were developed after careful study of the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section Sentencing Committee, co-chaired by James Felman and Barry Boss. We concur with the Practitioners’ Advisory Group (PAG) that the Commission should once again prioritize the development of additional alternatives to incarceration, consider an expansion of the “safety-valve” to non-drug cases, and we also urge you to take action to encourage probationary sentences under specified circumstances.