The First Step Act of 2018: One Year of Implementation

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"The First Step Act of 2018 includes five provisions related to sentencing reform. Each of these changes has been the subject of ongoing consideration within the criminal justice community and was the subject of Commission recommendations in its mandatory minimum reports and other work. The First Step Act has now been in effect for a full calendar year. This publication examines the impact of the First Step Act of 2018, analyzing data from the first year following its enactment, compared to data from fiscal year 2018—the last full fiscal year prior to its enactment."

Sentencing Commission Nominee Supported Handcuffing Prisoners To Hitching Posts Under Hot Sun

Handcuffing a prisoner to a hitching post for seven hours, denying him water, and then taunting him about his thirst as the summer sun beat down upon him was a “a cost-effective, safe and relatively pain-free way to impel inmates to work,” according to the Alabama Department of Corrections, and a brief filed by former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor (R) in 2002 called upon the Supreme Court to defer to this determination. Thanks to President George W. Bush, Pryor is now a federal appellate judge. And, if Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) gets his way, he will soon have even more control over what kinds of punishments are doled out to federal defendants.

The powerful United States Sentencing Commission sets the federal sentencing guidelines which form the basis of most criminal sentencing handed down by federal judges. Although there are some constitutional limits on the extent to which the Commission can increase federal sentences by altering the Guidelines, they remain one of the most potent vehicles for shaping federal sentences. Because no more than four of the Commission’s seven voting members may belong to the same party, the President traditionally names three members selected by leaders of his opposition party. According to the White House, McConnell selected Pryor to hold one of the Republican Party’s three seats.

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Rethinking Criminal Sentences

A federal conviction for white-collar fraud is no guarantee of a heavy prison sentence. When five defendants in the fraud case involving the American International Group were sentenced, they could have faced life in prison; instead, a judge handed down sentences of one to four years for causing more than $500 million in losses. A Ponzi-scheme criminal who caused more than $40 million in losses got 25 years. A man convicted of securities fraud that caused more than $50 million in losses got a three-and-a-half-year sentence.

Sentencing for white-collar crimes — and for child pornography offenses — “has largely lost its moorings,” according to the Justice Department, which makes a strong case that the matter should be re-examined by the United States Sentencing Commission.

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This is a New York Times editorial. Tom