ASHCROFT MEMO MEANS MORE SENTENCE APPEALS

WASHINGTON (AP)- Attorney General John Ashcroft wants prosecutors to
closely monitor which judges impose more lenient sentences than federal
guidelines recommend, a step some critics say could limit judicial
independence. Ashcroft directed U.S. attorneys nationwide to promptly
report to Justice Department headquarters when a sentence is a "downward
departure" from guidelines and not part of a plea agreement in exchange for
cooperation. "The Department of Justice has a solemn obligation to ensure
that laws concerning criminal sentencing are faithfully, fairly and
consistently enforced," Ashcroft wrote in the memo issued July 28. Critics
say the result will be more power in the hands of prosecutors and
impermissible restraints on judicial discretion. "It's telling judges from
the get-go, 'If you want to depart that you will be put on a list and you
will be watched,"' said Ryan King, research associate with The Sentencing
Project, a nonprofit group seeking alternatives to prison. "We're no longer
judging a case on the merits." Prosecutors were told in Ashcroft's memo to
make sure the government is prepared to appeal more of these sentences if
such a decision is made by lawyers in Solicitor General Theodore Olson's
office. The upshot is that more decisions to appeal will be made at "main
Justice" in Washington rather than left to prosecutors in the field.