ASHCROFT ANGERS JUDGES

Fed's Mandatory Sentences Spur Strong Conservative Complaints

WASHINGTON - A debate over appropriate punishments for federal crimes and
how cases should be pursued by prosecutors has made unlikely foes of
conservative judges and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

When similar cases are handled differently, a drug peddler in San Diego
might get 12 months in jail while one in Texas is sent away for six years.
Mr. Ashcroft says he wants more uniformity, but judges say his ideas for
achieving that will harm a system already struggling with more cases than
it can handle.

It's turning into a particularly contentious chapter in the long-running
dispute over sentencing.

Last week, federal judges urged repeal of a law that was sought by Mr.
Ashcroft earlier this year making it more difficult for them to impose
lighter sentences than specified in guidelines approved by Congress more
than 15 years ago.

The Judicial Conference of the United States, headed by conservative Chief
Justice William H. Rehnquist, voted unanimously to support overturning the
law, which also requires reports to Congress on any judge who departs from
the sentencing guidelines. Justice Rehnquist had complained about the law
when it was passed.

In another development last week, Mr. Ashcroft limited the freedom of
prosecutors to strike plea bargains in criminal cases. He said that U.S.
attorneys must seek the toughest punishment possible in nearly all cases,
using plea bargains only in special situations.

Now, fewer than 5 percent of federal cases go to trial.

"If there were no guilty pleas, the courts could work 365 days a year, 24
hours a day and not try all the cases," said senior U.S. District Judge
Neal Biggers Jr. of Oxford, Miss., named to the bench in 1984 by President
Reagan.

As for departing from the guidelines, judges are not giving out light
sentences willy-nilly, Judge Biggers said. It's prosecutors who request
lighter sentences in plea bargains to reward cooperative defendants, he added.

Michael O'Neill, a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, applauds Mr.
Ashcroft's goal but said judges have legitimate concerns about interference
with their authority.

"You're seeing some push back by the judges, as they perceive things to be
unfair," said Mr. O'Neill, whose commission periodically revises the
guidelines.

A Justice Department spokeswoman said Monday the department does not
generally respond to judges' comments.

In July, Mr. Ashcroft wrote in a memo that the Justice Department "has a
solemn obligation to ensure that laws concerning criminal sentencing are
faithfully, fairly and consistently enforced."

The guidelines set out a range of possible prison terms, usually leading to
sentences much shorter than the maximum a defendant could have received. In
addition, for some crimes Congress has established minimum prison sentences.