March 2023
Sample of Public Comment Received on Proposed Amendments
Sample of Public Comment Received on Proposed Amendments
88 FR 7180
The Commission reviews and catalogs all public comment submissions for future reference and official recordkeeping purposes. A representative sample of public comment is carefully selected, redacted, and posted online to provide the public with the kind of information considered by the Commissioners during their deliberations.
The March 2023 Compilation of Public Comment PDF uses bookmarks as its table of contents. A bookmark is a navigation link that displays in the side panel within Adobe Acrobat (example). Some browsers open the bookmarks panel by default within the browser window. If you cannot access the bookmarks panel within the browser window, it is recommended that you save the PDF and reopen it in Adobe Acrobat for easier navigation.
View submissions by proposed amendment:
- Compassionate Release
- First Step Act: Safety Valve and Conforming Changes to §2D1.1
- Firearms Offenses
- Circuit Conflicts Concerning §3E1.1(b) and §4B1.2(b)
- Crime Legislation
- Categorical Approach and Other Career Offender Issues
- Criminal History
- Acquitted Conduct
- Sex Abuse of a Ward Offenses
- Alternatives-to-Incarceration Programs
- Fake Pills
- Miscellaneous Issues
- Technical Amendment
(PDF file is 40 MB, 1672 pages)
Proposed Amendment No. 1 – Compassionate Release
- United States Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell [296]
- Joint Letter from United States Senators Richard J. Durbin, Cory A. Booker, and Mazie K. Hirono, Senate Committee on the Judiciary [298]
- United States Senator Richard J. Durbin, Senate Committee on the Judiciary [Letter]
- United States Senator Charles E. Grassley, Senate Committee on the Judiciary [307]
- United States Circuit Judge Julie E. Carnes, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals [319]
- United States District Judge Lynn Adelman, Eastern District of Wisconsin [333]
- United States District Judge Stephen R. Bough, Western District of Missouri [336]
- United States District Judge Victoria M. Calvert, Northern District of Georgia [358]
- United States District Judge Catherine C. Eagles, Middle District of North Carolina [360]
- United States District Judge Sara Ellis, Northern District of Illinois [365]
- United States District Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal, District of Wyoming [366]
- United States District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, Middle District of Georgia [368]
- United States District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., District of Rhode Island [375]
- United States District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, District of Columbia [377]
- United States District Judge Amy Totenberg, Northern District of Georgia [380]
- United States District Judge Martha Vazquez, District of New Mexico [384]
- United States District Judge Robert E. Wier, Eastern District of Kentucky [386]
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [387]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Practitioners Advisory Group [844]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Victims Advisory Group [918]
- Joint Letter from Aleph Institute and Center for Justice and Human Dignity [955]
- Joint Letter from Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition (The California Coalition for Women Prisoners, The California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, Centro Legal de la Raza, Dolores Street Community Services, ACLU of Northern California, and Rights Behind Bars) [962]
- Abolish Slavery Virginia [990]
- American Bar Association [991]
- American Litigation Consultant [996]
- Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law [1005]
- CAN-DO Foundation [1015]
- Church Without Walls [1021]
- Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition [1022]
- Criminal Justice Clinic at University of California, Irvine [1023]
- CURE California [1027]
- Delaware Advocates for Rational Sex Offense Laws [1028]
- Dewayne Patterson Construction, Inc. [1029]
- Drug Policy Alliance [1030]
- Families Against Mandatory Minimums [1052]
- For The People [1083]
- Free Prisoners [1086]
- Hidden Prison Horrors [1112]
- Hinda Institute [1113]
- Humane Prison Hospice Project [1114]
- International CURE [1115]
- International End of Life Doula Association [1116]
- Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration [1130]
- Life Coach Each One Teach One Reentry Fellowship [1133]
- Medical Justice Alliance [1134]
- My Federal Prison Consultant, LLC [1142]
- National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys [1143]
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers [1152]
- National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls [1188]
- National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Missouri Chapter [1196]
- National Pardon Association [1197]
- Prison Fellowship [1211]
- REFORM Alliance [1218]
- Remington Center’s Oxford Federal Project at University of Wisconsin Law School [1222]
- Rights Behind Bars [1232]
- Save Our Sons [1245]
- The Sentencing Project [1252]
- Spirit and Truth Ministries [1259]
- Tzedek Association [1260]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- University of Denver College of Law Civil Rights Clinic [1329]
- UV4SOR [1381]
- VOICES Foundation [1386]
- Joint Letter from Former United States District Court Judge Wayne Andersen, Northern District of Illinois; Former United States Circuit Court Judge Rosemary Barkett, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals; Former United States District Court Judge Rubén Castillo, Northern District of Illinois; Former United States District Court Judge David H. Coar, Northern District of Illinois and Former United States Bankruptcy Court Judge, Northern District of Illinois; Senior United States District Court Judge Raymond J. Dearie, Southern District of New York; Former United States Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow, Northern District of Illinois; Former Director Louis J. Freeh, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Former United States District Court Judge, Southern District of New York; Former United States District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel, Northern District of California; Former United States District Court Judge Katherine B. Forrest, Southern District of New York; Former United States District Court Judge William Royal Furgeson Jr., Western District of Texas; Former United States District Court Judge Faith S. Hochberg, District of New Jersey and Former United States Attorney, District of New Jersey; Former United States District Court Judge John E. Jones III, Middle District of Pennsylvania; Former United States District Court Judge Walter D. Kelley Jr., Eastern District of Virginia; Former United States Circuit Court Judge Alex Kozinski, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; Former United States Circuit Court Judge Timothy K. Lewis, Third Circuit Court of Appeals and Former United States District Court Judge, Western District of Pennsylvania; Former United States Circuit Court Judge Beverly B. Martin, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Former United States District Court Judge, Northern District of Georgia; Former United States District Court Judge John S. Martin Jr., Southern District of New York and Former United States Attorney, Southern District of New York; Former United States District Court Judge Howard A. Matz, Central District of California; Former United States Circuit Court Judge Michael W. McConnell, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals; Former Attorney General of the United States, Michael B. Mukasey, and Former United States District Court Judge, Southern District of New York; Former United States Circuit Court Judge Kathleen M. O'Malley, Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and Former United States District Court Judge, Northern District of Ohio; Former United States District Court Judge Stephen M. Orlofsky, District of New Jersey; Former United States District Court Judge Philip Pro, Southern District of Nevada; Former United States District Court Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, Southern District of New York and Former United States Magistrate Judge, Eastern District of New York; Former United States District Court Judge Kevin H. Sharp, Middle District of Tennessee; Former United States District Court Judge Abraham D. Sofaer, Southern District of New York [1401]
- Joint Letter from Eugenie Jackson, Senior Research Lead, equivant Supervision and Kenneth Dimoff, State Administrator Manager, Office of Research and Planning, Michigan Department of Corrections [1411]
- Joint Letter from Joshua Matz, Sean Hecker, and Amit Jain of Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP., and Professor Laurence H. Tribe at Harvard Law School [1416]
- Joint Letter from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Pro Bono Department [1452]
- Joint Letter from Erica Zunkel, Clinical Professor of Law; Jaden Lessnick, J.D. Candidate; Nathaniel Berry, J.D. Candidate; Juliana Steward, J.D. Candidate; Margaret Wells, J.D. Candidate [1457]
- Dennis Alba, Attorney at Law [1490]
- Margaret Boyce-Furey, Attorney at Law [1493]
- Sandra Collins, Attorney at Law [1498]
- Susan Conforti, Religious Leader [1499]
- Pamela Douglas, Religious Leader [1502]
- David Ferguson, Religious Leader [1503]
- Former United States District Judge Nancy Gertner; Senior Lecturer, Harvard Law School; Managing Director for Center for Law, Brain and Behavior [1505]
- Susan K. Griggs, Religious Leader [1514]
- Patricia Handlin, Attorney at Law [1515]
- Sandra Joy, Ph.D. [1518]
- Reverend Shannon Lawson, Religious Leader [1519]
- Deborah Newman, Religious Leader [1520]
- Deborah Patterson, Professor/Researcher [1521]
- Tom Pearson, Attorney at Law [1522]
- Steven Salky, Attorney at Law [1523]
- Glenda Simms, Law Enforcement (Retired) [1524]
- Brent Turner, Law Enforcement [1525]
- Shauna Wooten, Religious Leader [1526]
- Judith Van Wyk, Volunteer in Reentry [1527]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1528, 1531, 1533, 1543, 1549, 1567, 1575, 1577, 1578, 1586, 1590, 1592, 1608, 1614, 1617, 1620, 1621, 1624, 1625, 1629, 1631, 1645, 1650, 1654, 1661, 1664, 1666, 1667]
Proposed Amendment No. 2 – First Step Act: Safety Valve and Conforming Changes to §2D1.1
- United States District Judge Victoria M. Calvert, Northern District of Georgia [358]
- United States District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, Middle District of Georgia [368]
- United States District Judge Amy Totenberg, Northern District of Georgia [380]
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [431]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Practitioners Advisory Group [844]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Victims Advisory Group [918]
- Drug Policy Alliance [1030]
- Families Against Mandatory Minimums [1052]
- Justice Roundtable [1117]
- National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys [1143]
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers [1152]
- Play4Youth [1210]
- REFORM Alliance [1218]
- Tzedek Association [1260]
- UNCLE OTTO’S [1277]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- Mark Campetti, United States Probation Officer [1494]
- Ruben Garcia, CJA Panel Attorney [1504]
- Deborah Patterson, Professor/Researcher [1521]
- Glenda Simms, Law Enforcement (Retired) [1524]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1531, 1543, 1568, 1652, 1655]
Proposed Amendment No. 3 – Firearms Offenses
- Joint Letter from United States Senators Cory A. Booker and Christopher S. Murphy [Letter]
- United States District Judge Victoria M. Calvert, Northern District of Georgia [358]
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [387]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Practitioners Advisory Group [844]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence [1093]
- National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys [1143]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- Working Group of the Zimroth Center at NYU Law School[1387]
- Joint Letter from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Pro Bono Department [1452]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1531, 1543, 1585, 1605, 1618, 1649, 1669]
Proposed Amendment No. 4 – Circuit Conflicts Concerning §3E1.1(b) and §4B1.2(b)
- United States Circuit Judge Julie E. Carnes, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals [319]
- United States District Judge Victoria M. Calvert, Northern District of Georgia [358]
- United States District Judge Amy Totenberg, Northern District of Georgia [380]
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [387]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Practitioners Advisory Group [844]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Victims Advisory Group [918]
- Fair Trials [1039]
- National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys [1143]
- Remington Center’s Oxford Federal Project at University of Wisconsin Law School [1222]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- Joint Letter from Sami Azhari, Azhari LLC., and Aliza Hochman Bloom, Faculty Fellow at New England Law, Boston, MA [1405]
- Creagan Harry, Author [1516]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1531, 1543, 1551, 1580, 1583, 1596, 1597, 1615, 1637, 1640, 1646]
Proposed Amendment No. 5 – Crime Legislation
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [387]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Hinda Institute [1113]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1543]
Proposed Amendment No. 6 – Categorical Approach and Other Career Offender Issues
- Joint Letter from United States Senators Richard J. Durbin, Cory A. Booker, and Mazie K. Hirono, Senate Committee on the Judiciary [298]
- Judicial Conference of the United States, Committee on Criminal Law [310]
- United States District Judge Victoria M. Calvert, Northern District of Georgia [358]
- United States District Judge Amy Totenberg, Northern District of Georgia [380]
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [387]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Practitioners Advisory Group [844]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Victims Advisory Group [918]
- Joint Letter from American Civil Liberties Union, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Equal Justice USA, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Japanese American Citizens League, Juvenile Law Center, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Center for Transgender Equality, National Council of Churches, The Sentencing Project [968]
- FWD.us [1087]
- Hinda Institute [1113]
- New Civil Liberties Alliance [1198]
- Remington Center’s Oxford Federal Project at University of Wisconsin Law School [1222]
- Tzedek Association [1260]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1531, 1559, 1560, 1565, 1566, 1569, 1570, 1598, 1604, 1660]
Proposed Amendment No. 7 – Criminal History
- Joint Letter from United States Senators Richard J. Durbin, Cory A. Booker, and Mazie K. Hirono, Senate Committee on the Judiciary [298]
- United States Circuit Judge Julie E. Carnes, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals [319]
- United States District Judge Victoria M. Calvert, Northern District of Georgia [358]
- United States District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, Middle District of Georgia [368]
- United States District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., District of Rhode Island [375]
- United States District Judge Amy Totenberg, Northern District of Georgia [380]
- United States District Judge Robert E. Wier, Eastern District of Kentucky [386]
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [387]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Practitioners Advisory Group [844]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Victims Advisory Group [918]
- Joint Letter from American Civil Liberties Union, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Equal Justice USA, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Japanese American Citizens League, Juvenile Law Center, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Center for Transgender Equality, National Council of Churches, The Sentencing Project [968]
- Last Prisoner Project [1124]
- National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys [1143]
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children [1185]
- Purple Circle, LLC [1213]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- Clayton Beaty, Community Leader [1491]
- John Dorsey, Religious Leader [1500]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1536, 1541, 1542, 1543, 1547, 1562, 1563, 1571, 1573, 1574, 1577, 1581, 1584, 1595, 1603, 1607, 1608, 1609, 1612, 1616, 1632, 1633, 1639, 1651, 1653, 1670]
Proposed Amendment No. 8 – Acquitted Conduct
- Joint Letter from United States Senators Richard J. Durbin, Cory A. Booker, and Mazie K. Hirono, Senate Committee on the Judiciary [298]
- United States District Judge Micaela Alvarez, Southern District of Texas [335]
- United States District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., District of Rhode Island [375]
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [387]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Practitioners Advisory Group [844]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Victims Advisory Group [918]
- Americans for Prosperity Foundation [997]
- Drug Policy Alliance [1030]
- Due Process Institute [1035]
- Fair Trials [1039]
- Families Against Mandatory Minimums [1052]
- Justice Roundtable [1117]
- National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys [1143]
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers [1152]
- New York City Bar Association [1204]
- Tzedek Association [1260]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- Joint Letter from Claudia T. Pastorius, Attorney at Law and Fred Davis Clark, Jr., Formerly Incarcerated Individual [1434]
- Bassey Akpaffiong, Attorney at Law [1489]
- Michael S. Carona, Sheriff (Retired) [1495]
- Former United States District Judge Nancy Gertner; Senior Lecturer, Harvard Law School; Managing Director for Center for Law, Brain & Behavior [1505]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1530, 1535, 1537, 1538, 1540, 1548, 1557, 1561, 1564, 1572, 1577, 1579, 1582, 1600, 1601, 1602, 1606, 1611, 1613, 1619, 1641, 1642, 1662, 1663]
Proposed Amendment No. 9 – Sex Abuse of a Ward Offenses
- Joint Letter from United States Senators Richard J. Durbin, Cory A. Booker, and Mazie K. Hirono, Senate Committee on the Judiciary [298]
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [387]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Practitioners Advisory Group [844]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Victims Advisory Group [918]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- UV4SOR [1381]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1543, 1593, 1594, 1622, 1623]
Proposed Amendment No. 10 – Alternatives-to-Incarceration Programs
- Joint Letter from United States Senators Richard J. Durbin, Cory A. Booker, and Mazie K. Hirono, Senate Committee on the Judiciary [298]
- Joint Letter from Chief United States Circuit Judge David J. Barron, First Circuit Court of Appeals; United States District Judge Leo Sorokin, District of Massachusetts and Co-Chair, First Circuit Alternative Sentencing Committee; United States District Judge William Smith, District of Rhode Island and Co-Chair, First Circuit Alternative Sentencing Committee [317]
- United States District Judge Stephen R. Bough, Western District of Missouri [336]
- United States District Judge Dolly M. Gee, Central District of California [370]
- United States District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., District of Rhode Island [375]
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [387]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Practitioners Advisory Group [844]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Joint Letter from Aleph Institute and Center for Justice and Human Dignity [955]
- Hinda Institute [1113]
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers [1152]
- Tzedek Association [1260]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- Ruben Garcia, CJA Panel Attorney [1504]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1587, 1635]
Proposed Amendment No. 11 – Fake Pills
- Joint Letter from United States Senators Charles E. Grassley and Dianne Feinstein, Senate Committee on the Judiciary [306]
- United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division [387]
- Federal Public and Community Defenders [485]
- Practitioners Advisory Group [844]
- Probation Officers Advisory Group [886]
- Victims Advisory Group [918]
- Drug Policy Alliance [1030]
- National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys [1143]
- United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Michigan [1278]
- Sample Citizen Letters [1543, 1643]