TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 22, 2024

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has voted unanimously to curtail the ability of judges to impose longer sentences on criminal defendants based on conduct for which they were acquitted at trial. The move, according to Reuters, follows calls by members of Congress and defense lawyers to do away with the ability of federal judges to sentence defendants for "acquitted conduct," a practice critics called unjust. The U.S. Supreme Court last year sidestepped the question of whether the practice was unconstitutional, with several justices saying they would wait for the Sentencing Commission to first decide whether to address the issue.