US Sentencing Commission releases lots of notable new data and "Quick Facts" reports

I was pleased to receive an email from the US Sentencing Commission today titled "What's New in Federal Sentencing?".  This email provided links and brief highlights of a lot of new items and data just posted to the USSC's website.  Here is a sampling from the email:

NEW First Step Act Data

The U.S. Sentencing Commission published updated data on sentence reductions pursuant to Section 404 of the First Step Act of 2018. Under Section 404, defendants sentenced before the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 are eligible for a retroactive sentence reduction. 

Data Highlights

Through September 30, 2020, the Commission received the following information from the courts: 

• 3,705 offenders were granted a sentence reduction under Section 404.
• 65% were assigned to the highest Criminal History Category (VI). 
  • 56% were Career Offenders.
• 45% received a weapon-related sentencing enhancement.
• Offenders received an average decrease of 6 years in their sentence. 
  • The original average sentence was 274 months.
  • The new average sentence was 202 months.
• 87% of granted motions were made by the defendant, 9% by the attorney for the government, and 4% by the court.

Quick Facts 

The Commission continues to update QuickFacts with new data. Recently updated QuickFacts include:

• Offenders in the Federal BOP
• Mandatory Minimum Penalties
• Career Offenders
• Section 924(c) Offenses
• Felons In Possession of a Firearm
• Illegal Reentry
• Alien Smuggling
• Non-U.S. Citizens

QuickFacts publications give readers basic facts about a single area of federal crime in an easy-to-read, two-page format. The Commission releases new QuickFacts periodically.