Sentencing Practice Talk is a podcast series designed to aid those involved in federal sentencing in the proper application of the guidelines and relevant case law. Topics range from frequently asked questions on the HelpLine, to sentencing practice tips, to recent case law developments.
Explore the Commission's new Case Law Concierge, a compilation of circuit court decisions by sentencing topic.
At a public meeting on August 23, the Commission finalized policy priorities for the 2018-2019 amendment year.
(Published July 12, 2018) This publication examines the application and impact of the statutory penalty enhancements for drug offenders who have a prior felony drug conviction (commonly referred to as "851 enhancements").
This report to the Congress provides key findings from a multi-year study of statutory and guideline definitions relating to "crimes of violence" and assesses the impact of such definitions on the career offender guideline and the Armed Career Criminal Act.
On April 30, 2018, the Commission submitted to Congress amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines with an effective date of November 1, 2018.
Official Text of Amendments
"Reader-Friendly" Amendments
The U.S. Sentencing Commission, a bipartisan, independent agency located in the judicial branch of government, was created by Congress in 1984 to reduce sentencing disparities and promote transparency and proportionality in sentencing.
The Commission collects, analyzes, and distributes a broad array of information on federal sentencing practices. The Commission also continuously establishes and amends sentencing guidelines for the judicial branch and assists the other branches in developing effective and efficient crime policy. Learn the basics of federal sentencing.
(August 2018) This report provides information on motions for a reduced sentence pursuant to the retroactive application of Amendment 782, which reduced the drug quantity table by two levels.
(July 2018) This data report contains preliminary quarterly data on cases in which the offender was sentenced during the first half of fiscal year 2018.
(July 2018) Over one-quarter of all section 924(c) offenders were convicted of another offense carrying a mandatory minimum. In most cases, the other offense was a drug trafficking crime.
(June 2018) Learn more about various categories of economic crime in the federal system, including securities and investment fraud, bribery, tax fraud, copyright/trademark infringement, etc.
(June 2018) Non-U.S. citizen offenders accounted for 40.7% of all federal offenders sentenced in FY 2017. The number of non-citizens sentenced has decreased over the last five years.
The Commission received comment on proposed priorities for the 2018 - 2019 amendment year (ending May 1, 2019).
The Commission has proposed priorities for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2019 and has requested public comment.
Public comment should be received by the Commission on or before August 10, 2018.
The Commission has finalized priorities for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2019.
A public meeting of the Commission was held on Thursday, August 23, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. (ET) pursuant to Rule 3.2 of the Rules of Practice and Procedure of the United States Sentencing Commission.
The meeting was streamed live. A video recording is available.
U.S. Sentencing Commission adopts 2018-2019 policy priorities.
