Ashcroft Mandates Reporting of Lesser Sentences

The Advocate reports on U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's order to U.S. Attorneys to promptly report any judges imposing sentences lighter than required by mandatory guidelines. The mandate, a provision of the child-protection Protect Act, appears to limit the discretion that local prosecutors will have in deciding whether or not to appeal a sentence.

"If this directive is intended to be intimidating, it's inappropriate, although I don't know of any federal judges who will be intimidated by it," [U.S. Eastern District Judge] Berrigan said. "I'm going to credit Mr. Ashcroft with good faith, and just assume that he may not be as well informed of the facts as he should be. He does have a lot on his plate up there in Washington. But he's making something of an issue that's not really significant."

Posted by AJR at August 12, 2003 08:25 AM