Nation’s Largest Criminal Justice Organization Encourages Adoption of Updated Sentencing Guidelines for Youth Offenses, Acquitted Conduct

Guidelines would better align federal sentencing with latest brain development science, recidivism-reduction best practices

Washington, D.C. – The United States Sentencing Commission held the first of two days of testimony on updated sentencing guidelines Wednesday. The hearings come after an open public comment period for the guidelines ended last month. Among other changes, the proposal would alter how sentences for offenses committed prior to the age of eighteen are considered in the calculation of a defendant’s criminal history score, and eliminate the consideration of offenses for which a person of any age has been acquitted during subsequent interactions with the justice system.

Justice Action Network (JAN), the nation’s largest bipartisan, evidence-based criminal justice organization working at both the state and federal levels, submitted public comment to the commission and released this statement today:   

“The science on brain development is clear: juvenile brains are rapidly changing and both take on and respond to risk differently than adults. It’s imperative that our justice system takes development seriously in the way it addresses criminal offenses, particularly because we also know from evidence in state systems that cycles of incarceration started early in a person’s life, often lead to more crime, not less.” Said JC Hendrickson, Congressional Affairs Director for JAN, “The commission’s proposal to discontinue the use of acquitted conduct in sentencing decisions corrects a fundamental injustice in our system, which has long raised major constitutional issues, depriving citizens of due process to which they are entitled under both the fifth and sixth amendments. We encourage the commission to adopt both proposed amendments this year.”