The commission said it voted unanimously on a series of policy issues it plans to weigh in the 2025-2026 amendment cycle, including a reassessment of the role of actual loss, intended loss and gain in guidelines calculation, and whether the fraud guidelines as they stand "appropriately reflect the culpability of a defendant and harm to victims."
Whether to adjust the applicable loss guidelines for inflation is also on the table, as are guidelines adjustments for the role a defendant played in the crime, including leaders and organizers of criminal offenses, bit players and those who abuse positions of trust.
Another area to be reviewed is the treatment of crimes that use sophisticated means and if an adjustment is warranted to account for the preparation of such an offense, its commission or the means taken to avoid detection.
Other matters for consideration include the provision of additional guidance for judges regarding which sentencing options — such as imprisonment, probation or fines — are appropriate, possible revisions for the consideration of good behavior and overall simplification of the guidelines.
The commission further plans to contemplate the penalty structure for some drug trafficking crimes, including those involving methamphetamine and fentanyl, as well as the guidelines for human smuggling and whether factors such as bodily injury, sexual assault and the number of victims are being properly taken into account.
The commissioners also plan to scrutinize the effectiveness of certain practices by the Bureau of Prisons in achieving some of the so-called 3553(a) factors of the purposes of sentencing.
Commissioners came to an agreement on its policy priorities for the coming term after its annual solicitation of public feedback, the agency said, including from lawyers, judges, politicians, academics and current and former prisoners, among others.
"Public feedback continues to be invaluable to the commission's work," U.S. District Judge and Commission Chair Carlton Reeves said in a statement. "I am grateful to the many individuals and groups who have taken the time to provide their views to the commission."
The new agenda for the commission comes after it implemented a number of amendments to the guidelines in its 2024-2025 cycle, including revisions intended to address the promotion of an individualized approach to supervised release sentencing, the harms of "fake pills" that contain fentanyl, penalties for firearms involving machine gun conversion devices and certain circuit splits.
Absent congressional intervention, those amendments are due to take effect on Nov. 1.
--Editing by Dave Trumbore.
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