美國聯邦量刑指導

2012年1月31日，每年，聯邦法官判刑超過80,000罪犯。這些處罰都應該是公平的 -​​ 和可預見的。但是，七年前，美國最高法院投擲到系統中的裁決，法官使用的指導方針，找出一個監獄服刑只是建議扳手。共和黨在國會說，已經導致了很多不好的結果。他們呼籲量刑系統的檢修與強硬的新的強制性刑期，帶入一些秩序的過程。來自威斯康星州的共和黨眾議員詹姆斯·森森布倫納，在最近的一次聽證會上提出了這個問題。森森布倫納說：“聯邦犯罪的刑事應該收到類似的處罰，不管是否在里士滿，弗吉尼亞州，加利福尼亞州里士滿，致力於犯罪，這就是為什麼我深感關注聯邦量刑發生了什麼，”。自2005年擔任最高法院作出的判刑指引諮詢 - 不是強制性的 - 森森布倫納說，實施指引下服刑的範圍幾乎有一半時間在紐約市等地的法官。但只有幾個小時，在紐約北部的法官仍然遵循的準則。前檢察官馬特礦工 - 誰也擔任共和黨國會助手 - 說這不是正義。你確保準則得到應有的尊重的方式是讓他們尊敬。- 俄亥俄州立大學法學教授道格拉斯·伯曼，“我們有一個聯邦系統，不僅在同一法院對同一樓層，或由區區應該有一致性，但在全國范圍內，我們未能在該礦工說。”俄亥俄州立大學法律教授和量刑專家，道格拉斯·伯曼說，“你確保準則得到應有的尊重的方式是讓他們的尊敬。”很多人認為，自從最高法院權衡中，黑人男子有差了很多。馬薩諸塞州的法官帕蒂紗麗導致美國國會創建的量刑委員會。紗麗談到的問題在本月初美國憲法學會和美國公民自由聯盟在華盛頓主辦的一個小組。“一個黑人男性的平均刑期長於20％的白人男性......我認為什麼是重要的補充是，這裡沒有人指責是種族主義法官，紗麗說。”所以，那麼，什麼回事？“這不是黑人男性的句子正拔地而起。這是白人男性的句子正在下降，”紗麗說。伯爾曼，法學教授說，法官認為，許多建議的處罰過於強硬，特別是在企業欺詐和兒童色情製品，指引打電話的人下載兒童的圖像有時會上升20年鐵窗領域。“伯曼說，”有2,000兒童色情案件，約1200，其中有以下的指引句子，它們都是白色的被告。 “所以我現在想的，整個20％的最簡單的解釋 - 或者，如果不是整個的20％，比至少，很大一部分 - 是，事實上，白人兒童色情下載得到顯著從寬處理。”量刑委員會研究，反饋，紗麗說，真的，它試圖把事情做好。例如，委員會下月將舉行聽證會，對兒童色情的句子是否是公平的。“紗麗說，”國會認為世界上最壞的罪犯時，他們設置了強制性的最低。 “他們正在思考的大壞蛋，我們就都同意，”哎呀，剛剛發送的人“。但是......的時候，每一個可怕，可怕的[案例]你能告訴我一下，我能想到的情況，這是遠遠低於嚴重。“我會敦促委員會可能出售國會的想法，該系統工作得很好。- 艾米聯邦公共及社區男爵 - 埃文斯後衛莎麗說，儘管所有的批評中，絕大多數的法官仍然給出了舊準則的範圍之內的懲罰，即使他們不再是強制性的。她說，她仍然認為最好的辦法是保持判刑的諮詢指引和調整，他們需要的基礎上從法官的反饋。艾米男爵埃文斯，聯邦公共及社會的捍衛者的工作，說沒有什麼錯誤的事情現在要去的方式，國會不應該帶走的自由裁量權的法官們評估的情況下，每個被告人的案。，“巴朗埃文斯說：”也許銷售大會上，該系統是相當不錯的想法，我會敦促委員會。但該消息可以是政治上不受歡迎，一些共和黨人也暗示他們可能會提出新的強制性刑罰的量刑委員會的預算削減。“邁克爾·沃爾科夫說，一名前檢察官，”我愛，每個人都想談論的系統是多麼嚴重，最近在華盛頓的小組討論。 “我很抱歉 - 政治，無處可去，鄉親們，它無處可去。”前檢察官比爾奧的斯，去年在眾議院司法委員會作證了這些關切的聲音。“，”奧的斯說，該委員會應返回其主要工作，建立強制性指引，或退還給納稅人。內務司法委員會正計劃在這個問題上更多的聽證會在今年春天。


GOP Seeks Big Changes In Federal Prison Sentences
by Carrie Johnson
January 31, 2012

Listen to the Story
Morning Edition
[4 min 24 sec]
Add to Playlist
Download
Transcript

text size A A A January 31, 2012
Every year, federal judges sentence more than 80,000 criminals. Those punishments are supposed to be fair — and predictable. But seven years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court threw a wrench into the system by ruling that the guidelines that judges use to figure out a prison sentence are only suggestions.
Republicans in Congress say that has led to a lot of bad results. They're calling for an overhaul of the sentencing system, with tough new mandatory prison terms to bring some order back into the process. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Republican from Wisconsin, brought up the subject at a recent hearing.
"A criminal committing a federal crime should receive similar punishment regardless of whether the crime was committed in Richmond, Va., or Richmond, Calif., and that's why I am deeply concerned about what's happening to federal sentencing," Sensenbrenner said.
Since the Supreme Court acted in 2005 to make the sentencing guidelines advisory — not mandatory — Sensenbrenner said, judges in places like New York City have imposed sentences below the guideline ranges almost half the time. But judges only a few hours further north in New York are still following the guidelines.
Former prosecutor Matt Miner — who also served as GOP congressional aide — says that's not justice.
The way you make sure the guidelines get due respect is to make them respectable.
- Douglas Berman, Ohio State University law professor
"We have a federal system. There should be consistency not just in the same courthouse and on the same floor, or district by district, but across the country, and we're failing in that," Miner says.
Douglas Berman, a law professor and sentencing expert at Ohio State University, said, "The way you make sure the guidelines get due respect is to make them respectable."
A lot of people argue that ever since the Supreme Court weighed in, black men have it a lot worse.
Judge Patti Saris of Massachusetts leads the congressionally created U.S. Sentencing Commission. Saris spoke about the issue at a panel sponsored by the American Constitution Society and the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington earlier this month.
"The average sentence for a black male was 20 percent longer than that for a white male. ... And I think what's important to add there is that no one here is accusing judges of being racist," Saris said.
So, then, what's going on?
"It's not that the black male sentences are going up. It's that the white male sentences are going down," Saris said.
Berman, the law professor, says judges think many of the suggested punishments are too tough, especially in the areas of corporate fraud and child pornography, where the guidelines call for people who download images of children to sometimes get upward of 20 years behind bars.
"There's 2,000 child porn cases, and about 1,200 of them have below-guideline sentences, and they're all white defendants," Berman said. "And so now I think the easiest explanation for that entire 20 percent — or if not the entire 20 percent, than at least a big part of that — is, in fact, white child porn downloaders are getting significant leniency."
The sentencing commission studies that feedback, Saris said, and it really tries to make things better. For example, next month the commission will hold a hearing on whether child porn sentences are fair.
"Congress thinks about the world's worst offender when they're setting up a mandatory minimum," Saris said. "They're thinking about the big bad guy that we'd all agree, 'Gee, just send that person away.' But ... often, for every horrible, horrible [case] you tell me about, I can think of a situation which is far less severe."
I would urge the commission to maybe sell Congress on the idea that the system is working pretty well.
- Amy Baron-Evans of the Federal Public and Community Defenders
Saris said despite all the criticism, the great majority of judges still give out punishments within the range of the old guidelines, even though they're no longer mandatory. She said she continues to think the best approach is to keep the advisory guidelines for sentencing and to adjust them as needed based on feedback from judges.
Amy Baron-Evans, who works for the Federal Public and Community Defenders, said there's nothing wrong with the way things are going now, and Congress shouldn't take away the discretion judges have to evaluate each defendant case by case.
"I would urge the commission to maybe sell Congress on the idea that the system is working pretty well," Baron-Evans said.
But that message can be politically unpopular, with some Republicans suggesting they might propose new mandatory sentences and cut the budget of the sentencing commission.
"I love that everybody wants to talk about how severe the system is," said Michael Volkov, a former prosecutor, at the recent panel discussion in Washington. "I'm sorry — politically, that is going nowhere, folks. It's going nowhere."
Former prosecutor Bill Otis, testifying before the House Judiciary Committee last year, gave voice to those concerns.
"The commission either should return to its main job, creating mandatory guidelines, or give the taxpayers a refund," Otis said.
The House Judiciary Committee is planning more hearings on the issue this spring.
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/31/146081922/gop-seeks-big-changes-in-federal-prison-sentences