Co-Sponsored by Georgetown University Law Center’s American Criminal Law Review

The landscape of sentencing policy has shifted in recent years, with federal and state lawmakers advocating fewer draconian penalties and beginning to scale back certain sentences. It is clear that the United States stands at a critical juncture for sentencing reform. This symposium is designed to equip practitioners and policy advocates with the latest strategies and research to seize the moment and foster more rational and humane policies.

Hidden in Plain Sight — Reconsidering the Use of Race Correction in Clinical Algorithms (bond & the criminal legal system is used as an example). Published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Evolution of Federal Drug Sentencing to Compassionate Release

For John Bailey, achieving justice involved a long journey on both straight and winding roads with many obstacles along the way. But trying as it may have been, the odyssey ended by arriving at the sweetest of destinations – freedom.

Panel from the 2020 Presidential Summit and Sentencing Symposium, co-hosted with the Georgetown University Law Center American Criminal Law Review

Remarks made during the 2020 Presidential Summit and Sentencing Symposium, co-hosted with the Georgetown University Law Center American Criminal Law Review

The First Step Act makes important changes to several federal drug and gun statutes. The Act reduces mandatory minimum enhancements for some drug defendants and also changes the definition of these enhancements.  It also modifies the existing federal safety valve, broadening its application to more drug defendants; changes the “stacking” penalty under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c); and retroactively applies the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010.

Analysis by Amy Baron-Evans, prepared for a January 29, 2019 NACDL webinar on the First Step Act of 2018, S. 756/H.R. 5682.

Powerpoint prepared by Amy Baron-Evans for presentation in a January 29, 2019 NACDL webinar on the First Step Act of 2018, S. 756/H.R. 5682.

S. 756/H.R. 5682, passed December 20, 2018 and signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 21, 2018.

Notes on Sections 401-404 of the First Step Act of 2018, prepared by Amy Baron-Evans for presentation in a January 29, 2019 NACDL webinar on the First Step Act of 2018, S/ 756/H.R. 5682.

Presentation prepared by Peter Goldberger for a webinar on compassionate release based on the First Step Act of 2018

Sentencing expert Amy Baron-Evans discusses the ins and outs of the First Step Act, with emphasis on potentially overlooked aspects of the most significant provisions.

Compiled to accompany the webinar "Compassionate Release and Second Looks: Early Release Opportunities Under the First Step Act."

The First Step Act was signed into law on Dec. 21, 2018. NACDL and its members have long pressed to fix the unjustly severe federal sentencing regime, advocating for much more sweeping changes than are included in the First Step Act. Although the law does not go nearly as far as NACDL would like, it will benefit many prisoners and has important implications for practitioners. In these members-only webinars, leading experts examine the intricacies of the First Step Act.

Long underused and unfairly applied by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, federal compassionate release is seeing a revival under the First Step Act. That law not only corrected many of the flaws in the way the BOP handled compassionate release requests, but allows prisoners direct access to the courts. The new law clarifies the broad range of circumstances related to age, illness, and family circumstances that might trigger eligibility for relief and further opens up exciting new opportunities to seek reconsideration of sentences that are no longer appropriate for a variety of other reasons.