News Release

November 23, 2015

Contact: Office of Legislative and Public Affairs

(202) 502-4500 | pubaffairs@ussc.gov

 

APPOINTMENT OF RAQUEL K. WILSON
AS DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF EDUCATION AND SENTENCING PRACTICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 23, 2015) ― The United States Sentencing Commission (“Commission”) announced the appointment of Raquel K. Wilson as Director of the Office of Education and Sentencing Practice (“OESP”), the office responsible for fulfilling the Commission’s training mission.

“Raquel Wilson brings a unique blend of practical and policy experience to the position. She and Alan Dorhoffer, the Deputy Director, will form a strong and well-rounded leadership team as the Commission looks to offer more expansive training to judges and practitioners,” said Chief Judge Patti B. Saris, Chair of the Commission. “Raquel is creative, energetic, and effective. She is an excellent addition to our outstanding and knowledgeable training staff.”

Wilson has been serving as the Acting Director of OESP since February, 2015. Previously, Wilson served as the Deputy General Counsel in the Commission’s Office of General Counsel for more than five years, leading several multi-disciplinary teams and serving as the lead author of the Commission’s 2012 Report on the Continuing Impact of United States v. Booker on Federal Sentencing.

A New York native, Wilson graduated magna cum laude from Rice University, with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. After receiving a juris doctor from Stanford Law School, Wilson served as law clerk to the Honorable Robert L. Hinkle, at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida from 1996 to 1998. After her federal court clerkship, Wilson remained in Florida to practice law as an associate attorney for the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund from 1998 to 1999. Wilson then served ten years as an Assistant Federal Public Defender, first in the Southern District of Texas and then in the Western District of North Carolina.

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The United States Sentencing Commission, an independent agency in the judicial branch of the federal government, was organized in 1985 to develop a national sentencing policy for the federal courts. The resulting sentencing guidelines provide structure for the courts’ sentencing discretion to help ensure that similar offenders who commit similar offenses receive similar sentences.