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April 21, 2009
Judge Sessions, vice-chair of the USSC, now officially nominated to be chair of USSC
This press release from the White House details that yesterday President Obama made official a nomination that had been rumored for some time:
Today, President Obama announced that he is nominating Judge William K. Sessions III to be the Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission. Judge Sessions, who is currently a Vice Chair of the Commission, has served on the Sentencing Commission since President Clinton nominated him and he was confirmed by the Senate in 1999. President Bush re-nominated him for a second Commissioner term in 2003. Judge Sessions has been a federal judge on the District Court of Vermont since his nomination and confirmation in 1995.
I have great respect for Judge Sessions, and I am confident he will be an effective Chair of the USSC. But I must express a hint of disappointment that a President who campaigned on a promise of change is content here to just shuffle chairs on the deck of the USSC. As the official announcement documents, Judge Sessions has served on the USSC for a decade; it seems unlikely he will now try as Chair to move the USSC in a significantly different direction. The failure of President Obama to pick someone fresh and new for the open USSC Chair strikes me as an opportunity lost.
That said, perhaps it is a shrewd move for the new Administration to put an insider in the Chair position and then to use other USSC openings to add new and fresh perspectives to the Commission. There is still an open slot on the 7-member USSC, and I believe additional slots may become open before too long. The appointment of Judge Sessions to the Chair position might provide useful continuity if President Obama follows up with some real change in other USSC nominations.
Some related posts:
- Interesting reflections on Obama appointees from drug policy reformers
- More evidence Obama's DOJ is just not that into change in the criminal justice arena
- How a new administration is likely to impact federal sentencing practice
- Should the US Sentencing Commission have more members?
- US Sentencing Commission's regional hearings to start next week
- Lots of news and notes from the US Sentencing Commmission
- What might 2009 have in store for . . . the US Sentencing Commission?
April 21, 2009 at 09:18 AM | Permalink
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Comments
Did you have any particular new direction in mind for the USSC?
Posted by: anonymous | Apr 21, 2009 2:14:55 PM
Yeah, anonymous, I propose significant revision of the entire sentencing guidelines structure in order to (1) respond to the many problems identified by the USSC through its own research, (2) respond to the many new problems created by Booker, and (3) make the federal system significantly more just and effective. How is that for a simple agenda?
Posted by: Doug B. | Apr 21, 2009 3:35:23 PM
Sounds like a good start (though 3 is in highly general terms), and well explains your hint of disappointment over nominating a new chair from within the Commission. Thanks.
Posted by: anonymous | Apr 21, 2009 5:36:31 PM
The appointment of Judge Sessions as Chair means that there will be no meaningful changes on the horizon. He is a "guidelines" judge and very rarely deviates from the guideline range. He is also known to impose heavy sentences on first-time non-violent offenders.
A disappointing move by the Obama administration.
Posted by: anonymous | Apr 22, 2009 7:03:22 AM
America needs a reexamination of whether guidelines have helped the overall administration of justice. We have something like 2.3 Million folks locked up in the US. There is not enough money to pay for the inmate's health care. If we return to more judicial discretion the situation might not change. A fair way to deal with sentencing is to allow jurors to sentence and to have a sentencing phase for any serious felony trial. That is what the 6th Amendment intended and such things as enchancement for non charged (including charged but dismissed counrts)and acquitted conduct are a blasphemy on the Constitution. Parole should be reinstated as a way to ameliorate unjust long sentences and to reward good behavior in prison. A separate sentence review panel should review all federal criminal sentence statutes and make recommendations to lower many unjust sentences and eliminate prison as a remedy in many cases. Establish state and federal mental health alternatives. Restrict the ability of the govero appeal a district court sentence. Eliminate federal crimes that are essentially state offenses. Why are the feds prosecuting local possession of pot, coke, meth and oxycotin? Eliminate moonshine prosecutions. Prosecute radio talk show hosts for abusing oxycoting. Hang on to federal dog fighting crimes and interstate animal abuse laws and hang the Vicksters. Appoint someone who has done federal time on the Sentencing Commission. Publish the minutes of the meetings of the Commission on this blog. Repeal the Prison Litigation Reform Act. With two million three hundred thousand locked up we are right there with China as the number one oppressive nation. Add to that the killing of convicts we are in league with China, Russia, North Korea, Saudia Arabia, -- all of the uncivilized repressive, totalitarian states. California is facing a Ten Billion Dollar deficit for prison medical care. The lesson of Andersonville was that if you can not feed them or treat them then you must let them go. All of this being said, the nomination of Sessions does not seem to matter one way or the other. We can change, yes we can.
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