Criminal Sentencing
The Court's decision in Blakely called into question the constitutionality of the federal sentencing guidelines, and in 2005 the Court held in U.S. v. Booker and U.S. v. Fanfan that the federal guidelines must satisfy Blakely's Sixth Amendment standards. Thus, the Court held that the federal sentencing guidelines are unconstitutional because of their mandatory nature. The Court's decisions spurred a national debate about the future of federal and state sentencing guidelines, and also presented the opportunity to address broader concerns about this country's sentencing laws that many experts have long expressed.
The Blakely and Booker decisions underscore the need for reforms of our federal sentencing system. The Committee is focused on developing specific, consensus recommendations for revising sentencing laws to comport with the Constitution. Those recommendations include reintroducing judicial discretion to the sentencing process, protecting victims’ rights, improving procedural fairness in the sentencing process, and implementing reasonable alternatives to confinement.
