Comments and Recommendations Submitted to the Justice Kennedy Commission of the American Bar Association, 5 November

Source: (2003) Washington, D.C.: The Sentencing Project. Downloaded 27 January 2005.

The Sentencing Project is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. Since 1987, it has engaged in public education, professional training, research, and advocacy on issues of criminal justice and sentencing policy. In particular, The Sentencing Project has challenged reliance upon jails, prisons, and punishment as means for reducing crime. In 2003, Associate Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy spoke eloquently of the need for reforms in sentencing in criminal courts. He called for the American Bar Association (ABA) to initiate a new public discussion about the prison system. The ABA responded by setting up this Commission to prepare a report and make recommendations at the ABA’s annual meeting in August 2004. This paper is The Sentencing Project’s submission to the Commission. The Project’s comments and recommendations address the Federal sentencing guidelines, mandatory minimum sentences, sentencing discretion, over-representation of ethnic minorities in the prison population, and the legislative branch’s responsibility for sentencing policy.