Public Hearing - February 23-24, 2023

 

Public Hearing on Proposed Amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines

Thursday, February 23, 2023 and Friday, February 24, 2023
Washington, DC

 

 

Notice

Pursuant to Rule 3.2 of the Rules of Practice and Procedure of the United States Sentencing Commission, a public hearing was scheduled for Thursday, February 23 and Friday, February 24, 2023 to commence at 9:00 a.m. (ET) on both days.

The public hearing was held in the Mecham Conference Center in the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, One Columbus Circle, NE, Washington, DC. The hearing was livestreamed.

The purpose of the public hearing was for the Commission to receive testimony on proposed amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines related to Compassionate Release, Sex Abuse of a Ward, and Acquitted Conduct.

A video recording and transcript of this event are available below. 

 

Agenda and Witnesses
 

February 23, 2023
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Opening Remarks

Hon. Carlton W. Reeves (9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.)
Chair, U.S. Sentencing Commission

 

Proposed Amendment on Compassionate Release

Panel I. Executive Branch Perspective (9:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.)

Robert Parker
Chief, Appellate Section, Criminal Division
U.S. Department of Justice

Panel II. Practitioners’ Perspectives (9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.)

Kelly Barrett
First Assistant Federal Defender
District of Connecticut

Natasha Sen
Chair
Practitioners Advisory Group

Joshua Matz
Kaplan, Hecker & Fink
Washington, DC

Break (10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.)

Panel III. Law Enforcement Perspectives (10:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.)

Trent Shores
Former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma

Steve Wasserman
President
National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys

Brenda Goss Andrews
National President
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE)

Chief Kathy Lester
Sacramento, California
Major City Chiefs

Panel IV. Judicial Branch Perspective (11:30 a.m. – noon)

Hon. Randolph D. Moss
Chair
Committee on Criminal Law of the Judicial Conference of the United States

Lunch (noon – 1:15 p.m.)

Panel V. Community Perspectives (1:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.)

Mary Price
General Counsel
FAMM

Alan Vinegrad
Board Member
Center for Justice and Human Dignity

Kellie Surdis
Interested Citizen

Janiene Mallory
Interested Citizen

Panel VI. Advisory Group Perspectives (2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.)

Jill Bushaw
Chair
Probation Officers Advisory Group

Mary Graw Leary
Chair
Victims Advisory Group

Panel VII. Formerly Incarcerated Individuals (2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.)

Dwayne White

Derrell Gaulden

Adam Clausen

Gwen Levi

Bryant Brim

Panel VIII. Academic Perspectives (3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.)

Erica Zunkel
Clinical Professor of Law
Associate Director, Federal Criminal Justice Clinic
University of Chicago Law School

Paul J. Larkin
The John, Barbara, and Victoria Rumpel Senior Legal Research Fellow,
Edwin Reese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies
The Heritage Foundation

Andrea Harris
Adjunct Professor
Federal Criminal Sentence Reduction Clinic
University of Virginia School of Law

Caitlin J. Taylor, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
La Salle University

Jennifer Mascott
Assistant Professor of Law; Co-Executive Director,
The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State,
Antonin Scalia Law School,
George Mason University

Adjourn

 


 

February 24, 2023
9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Opening Remarks

Hon. Carlton W. Reeves (9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.)
Chair, U.S. Sentencing Commission

 

Proposed Amendment on Sex Abuse of a Ward

Panel I. Executive Branch Perspective (9:15 a.m. – 9:35 a.m.)

Marshall Miller
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General
Department of Justice

Panel II. Defense Practitioners’ Perspectives (9:35 a.m. – 10:05 a.m.)

Heather Williams
Federal Public Defender
Eastern District of California

Natasha Sen
Chair
Practitioners Advisory Group

Panel III. Advisory Groups’ Perspectives (10:05 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.)

Jill Bushaw
Chair
Probation Officers Advisory Group

Mary Graw Leary
Chair
Victims Advisory Group

Break (10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.)

 

Proposed Amendment on Acquitted Conduct

Panel IV. Executive Branch Perspective (10:45 a.m. – 11:05 a.m.)

Jessica D. Aber
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
Department of Justice

Panel V. Defense Practitioners’ Perspectives (11:05 a.m. – 11:35 a.m.)

Melody Brannon
Federal Public Defender
District of Kansas

Natasha Sen
Chair
Practitioners Advisory Group

Panel VI. Advisory Groups’ Perspectives (11:35 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.)

Jill Bushaw
Chair
Probation Officers Advisory Group

Mary Graw Leary
Chair
Victims Advisory Group

Panel VII. Practitioners’ Perspectives (12:05 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.)

Steve Wasserman
President
National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys

Mike Heiskell
President Elect
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Adjourn

 

To receive updates on future events and other Commission activities, visit us on Twitter or subscribe for e-mail updates. For questions regarding this notice, e-mail pubaffairs@ussc.gov or call (202) 502‐4597.