§991 United States Sentencing Commission; establishment and purposes

Summary

Creates an independent United States Sentencing Commission in the federal courts. It has seven voting members and one nonvoting member. The President appoints the seven voting members with the Senate’s approval after talking with judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, police, senior citizens, crime victims, and others. The President also picks one voting member to be Chair (with Senate approval) and names three Vice Chairs. At least three members must be federal judges chosen after the President considers a list of six judges recommended by the Judicial Conference. No more than four members may be from the same political party, and among the three Vice Chairs no more than two may be from the same party. The Attorney General or a designee is a nonvoting member. The President may remove the Chair, Vice Chairs, or members only for neglect of duty, official wrongdoing, or other good cause. The Commission must make federal sentencing rules to meet the goals in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)(2). The rules must promote fairness and predictability, reduce unfair differences between similar cases while allowing individual adjustments for special facts, and use advances in understanding human behavior when possible. The Commission must also create ways to measure how well sentencing, prison, and correctional practices meet those goals.