Dear Friend,
We are writing to update you on guideline amendments from the U.S. Sentencing Commission that were enacted in the 2024 amendment cycle and are effective as of November 1, 2024. Read below for more detail.
Acquitted Conduct
Acquitted conduct is a practice that FAMM has long opposed. It occurs when conduct of which a defendant was found not guilty at trial is still used at sentencing to increase the defendant’s sentencing guideline range. FAMM has argued that this practice undermines the legitimacy of the jury system and notions of fairness in our criminal system. After hearing from opponents of the practice for nearly thirty years, the Sentencing Commission has finally agreed to remove “acquitted conduct” from the definition of “relevant conduct.”
As of November 1, judges will no longer be able to use “conduct for which the defendant was criminally charged and acquitted in federal court” to calculate a guideline range. This is not a complete rejection of acquitted conduct. The acquitted conduct may still be used if it helps establish the conviction on another charge. And, while a judge cannot use acquitted conduct to establish the guideline range, they can still use acquitted conduct when considering whether to increase a sentence beyond the guideline range for the conviction. This discretionary authority is part of the sentencing analysis required by law, at 18 United States Code, section 3553(a) (also known as the “3553(a) analysis”).
Unfortunately, the Commission did not vote to make acquitted conduct retroactive. So that means anyone already serving a sentence that was based, in part, on acquitted conduct cannot have their sentence revisited based on that alone.
View more here.
Youthful Individuals
As of November 1, sentencing courts will be able to use the fact of someone’s youth at the time of the current offense or the time of prior offense(s) to permit a downward departure. Youthfulness is not just for people who are/were teenagers, but also extends to people who are/were in their mid-20s as well.
This amendment reflects research regarding brain development demonstrating that younger people are more likely to engage in impulsive, reward-seeking behavior, not as a matter of criminality, but as a matter of youthfulness.
This amendment was not made retroactive. View more here.
Other Amendments
The Commission amended a number of other provisions in the guidelines including: rule for calculating loss, enhancements for altered or obliterated serial numbers on firearms (2K2.1(b)(4)(B)(i)), enhanced base offense levels under 2D1.1, among others.
All of these amendments can be viewed here.
The Commission will begin publishing proposed amendments for 2025 in the next few months. We will be sure to keep you posted so stay tuned!
Best regards,
