U.S. COMMISSION TO ASSESS MANDATORY SENTENCES

WASHINGTON -- Congress has ordered the panel that advises judges on
prison terms to conduct a review of mandatory-minimum sentences, a
move that could lead to a dramatic rethinking of how the U.S.
incarcerates its criminals.

The review is a little-noticed element of the National Defense
Authorization Act signed into law last month by President Barack
Obama. The defense-spending bill calls on the commission to perform
several tasks, including an examination of the impact of
mandatory-minimum sentencing laws and alternatives to the practice.

Congress in the 1980s began passing mandatory-minimum laws, which
dictate the minimum sentence a judge must hand out for a particular
crime. Among the results were longer sentences, increased prison
populations and ballooning budgets.

Amid cost concerns in recent years, states have tried to reverse the
trend. At least 26 states have cut corrections spending recently and
at least 17 are closing prisons or reducing their inmate populations,
according to the Vera Institute of Justice, a New York nonprofit that
studies sentencing and criminal-justice policies.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which advises judges on all other
sentences, has now been charged with issuing recommendations on
mandatory minimums. Any final change in sentencing law would have to
come from Congress.

"It's going to be a massive undertaking," said the new chairman of
the Sentencing Commission, William Sessions III.

Mr. Sessions, who is also the chief federal judge in Vermont, said
the review would include everything from determining the effects of
minimums on the size of the prison population, to spending and the
social impact of the policies. "In my view," he said, "it's a very
open-ended request."

The inmate population in federal prisons has risen from 24,000 in
1980 to 209,000 as of Nov. 5. Over the same period, the federal
Bureau of Prisons staff has grown from 10,000 to about 36,000 employees.

The commission has pushed for changes in mandatory minimums, such as
ending the disparity in sentencing for crimes involving crack-cocaine
and powder cocaine. Several proposals are pending in Congress to
address the crack-cocaine issue. But the commission has not done a
full-scale examination of federal sentencing laws since 1991. At the
time, there were only 60 mandatory-minimum laws on the books. Now
there are about 170.

According to a limited review released by the commission in July,
most mandatory-minimum cases in 2008 concerned drugs or weapons
crimes. The review found that 21,023 offenders were convicted of
crimes that could have triggered the mandatory-minimum sentence. Many
got more lenient sentences for a variety of reasons, including
cooperation with authorities.

The commission will examine the effects of mandatory minimums on plea
agreements. Critics of the system say the threat of such sentences is
used to coerce plea bargains.

Members of the commission have been traveling the country to meet
with judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys. Many have pressed the
commission to provide alternatives to imprisonment for nonviolent,
low-level drug defendants.

James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the
nation's largest law-enforcement labor organization, said officers
believed it was appropriate to review the system. But he said it
shouldn't happen "in a way that will result in criminals not being
held accountable."

Mary Price, vice president and general counsel for Families Against
Mandatory Minimums, said it was too early to tell where the review might lead.

"Certainly from FAMM's perspective, as much information as the
commission can provide on the operation and impact of mandatory
minimums can only help us better understand and advocate for their
elimination."