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Dear friend,
We have some good news about two sentencing related cases from the Supreme Court.
In United States v. Taylor , the Supreme Court narrowed the definition of a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 924 by holding that an attempted Hobbs Act robbery is not a crime of violence. As a result, the mandatory minimum from the gun statute could not be added to Mr. Taylor's sentence for attempted Hobbs Act robbery. This case is one in a line of many in which the Supreme Court has continued to narrow the scope of a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 924.
In another case, Concepcion v. United States , the Supreme Court ruled that when a district court is deciding whether and how much to reduce an individual’s sentence based on outdated crack cocaine punishments, it may also consider other changes in fact and law that took place since the original sentencing.
Concepcion is an important sentencing case because the opinion is a ringing endorsement of broad judicial discretion in sentencing and re-sentencing proceedings. FAMM has advocated for broad judicial discretion in sentencing related proceedings before the courts, before the United States Sentencing Commission, and before Congress. Judicial discretion is central to our argument about the danger of mandatory minimum sentencing, which strips judges of any and all discretion to set an individualized punishment.
FAMM participated in both of these cases by filing amicus briefs (friend of the court briefs). The briefs, as well as FAMM's longer write ups about the cases, can be found here: [link removed] [[link removed]]
As the Supreme Court wraps up for this current term, we anticipate involvement in the Court's 2022-2023 term on important sentencing and criminal justice reform issues.
Mary Price [[link removed]]
Mary Price
General Counsel, FAMM
1100 H Street NW | Suite 1000 | Washington, D.C. xxxxxx | Tel: (202) 822-6700
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