Washington, DC – The United States Sentencing Commission voted unanimously in favor of adopting a wide range of policy updates Thursday afternoon, including a measure that will further prohibit the consideration of acquitted conduct at sentencing unless that consideration is significantly relevant for the purpose of reducing a sentence. The move comes after the Justice Action Network (JAN) urged the commission to restrict the consideration of acquitted conduct, conduct for which an individual was never convicted, in sentencing for other offenses. JAN Federal Affairs Director JC Hendrickson released the following shortly after the vote:

The proposed amendments are under consideration as more than 150,000 people are currently serving sentences in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, an agency that is chronically understaffed and struggling to manage the safety of staff and incarcerated people. It is imperative that the Commission consider amendments to the Guidelines that consider this backdrop…