At long last, we have a fully loaded USSC: Senate confirms all seven of Prez Biden's nominees to Sentencing Commission

In this post in February, 2021, I asked "Any guesses for when we might again have a fully functioning US Sentencing Commission?".  If anyone guessed August 4, 2022, well done: the US Senate tonight voted to confirm all seven of Prez Biden's nominees to the USSC.  This Bloomberg Law piece, headlined "US Sentencing Commission Restocked After Senate Confirmations," starts its report on this exciting news this way:

The Senate confirmed President Biden’s seven nominees to the US Sentencing Commission, fully restocking the panel and giving it the quorum needed to create guidance for the first time since 2019.

The bipartisan group of nominees were confirmed by voice vote, or without a formal tally, Thursday night. The new panel will be led by US District Judge Carlton Reeves, who is the first Black chair in the commission’s history.

As a reminder, this post lists all the folks who tonight are officially US Sentencing Commissioners, and congrats to them all.

As I have noted in prior posts, not only has the USSC gone nearly four years without a quorum needed to complete official actions, it has not had a complete set of seven commissioners in place for the better part of a decade.  But now, thrillingly, the Commission is fully loaded (and I hope ready to roll like Herbie).

Historically, as can be seen at this USSC webpage, back when the US Sentencing Commission was functional, the Commission would usually announce its yearly proposed priorities in June and then finalize those priorities in August.  It will be interesting to see if the new fully loaded Commission will seek to move forward with announced priorities and possible amendments in the coming months or will need considerable time to get up and running effectively.  There are lots of matters, big and small, that need the attention of a functioning Commission, but doing it right is more critical than doing it fast.   

A few prior related posts:

• Any guesses for when we might again have a fully functioning US Sentencing Commission? 
• New commentary calling for Prez Biden to revive the US Sentencing Commission
• When might we expect appointments to a new — a truly new — US Sentencing Commission? 
• Bipartisan call from members of Congress for Prez Biden to make US Sentencing Commission nominations 
• Spotlighting guideline circuit split, two Justices express "hope" US Commission will be back "in near future"
• Prez Biden finally announces a full slate of nominees to the US Sentencing Commission 

UPDATE: I am pleased to see this official USSC news release about the confirmations titled "Acting Chair Judge Charles Breyer, Incoming Chair Judge Carlton W. Reeves Applaud Senate Confirmation of New Commissioners." Here are excerpts:

The US Senate has confirmed a group of seven bipartisan members to serve on the US Sentencing Commission, providing the independent judicial branch agency with a voting quorum for the first time in more than three years. The Commission is charged with promoting transparency and proportionality in federal sentencing and reducing sentencing disparities.

The newly confirmed members of the Commission are District Judge Carlton W. Reeves, who will serve as Chair of the Commission; Circuit Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo, Laura Mate and Claire McCusker Murray, who are expected to be designated as Vice Chairs; District Judge Claria Horn Boom; former District Judge John Gleeson; and Candice Wong.

Upon appointment of the new Commissioners, current Acting Chair Senior District Judge Charles Breyer will step down from his position at the agency.

Judge Breyer said of the new Commissioners, “It is great news that the Senate has confirmed a full slate of seven bipartisan Commissioners. The lack of a quorum at the Sentencing Commission has created a void in the criminal justice system. As Senior US District Judge for the Northern District of California and Acting Chair of the Sentencing Commission, I know all too well the difficulty judges have faced in implementing the criminal justice reforms enacted by the First Step Act in 2018.”

“In addition, the Commission has been unable to provide guidance on a number of recent sentencing policy challenges, leaving the courts without uniform sentencing standards. The Sentencing Commission is vital to ensuring fairness and effectiveness of federal sentencing guidelines and policy.”

“These new Commissioners have an important task ahead of them. I am grateful to all of them for their willingness to serve in this important capacity, and I am honored and look forward to working with them.”

Incoming Chair Carlton W. Reeves, US District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi said, “The criminal justice system has some troubling divisions that have emerged among courts on sentencing issues during the years the Commission lacked a quorum.”

“My new Commission colleagues are all highly experienced professionals with vast knowledge of and broad expertise in the criminal justice system.”

“Our diverse backgrounds and expertise will bode well as the Commission works to address these complex issues in a bipartisan matter.”