United States Sentencing Commission 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In May 2013, the Commission published a notice of possible policy priorities for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2014. See 78 FR 32533 (May 30, 2013). After reviewing public comment received pursuant to the notice of proposed priorities, the Commission has identified its policy priorities for the upcoming amendment cycle and hereby gives notice of these policy priorities.

As part of its statutory authority and responsibility to analyze sentencing issues, including operation of the federal sentencing guidelines, and in accordance with Rule 5.2 of its Rules of Practice and Procedure, the United States Sentencing Commission is seeking comment on possible priority policy issues for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2014.

Pursuant to section 994(a), (o), and (p) of title 28, United States Code, the United States Sentencing Commission is considering promulgating certain amendments to the sentencing guidelines, policy statements, and commentary. This notice sets forth the proposed amendments and, for each proposed amendment, a synopsis of the issues addressed by that amendment. This notice also sets forth a number of issues for comment, some of which are set forth together with the proposed amendments; some of which are set forth independent of any proposed amendment; and one of which (regarding retroactive application of proposed amendments) is set forth in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION portion of this notice. The proposed amendments and issues for comment in this notice are as follows: (1) A proposed amendment to Sec. 2B1.1 (Theft, Property Destruction, and Fraud) regarding offenses involving pre-retail medical products to implement the directive in the SAFE DOSES Act, Public Law 112-186 (October 5, 2012), and a related issue for comment; (2) an issue for comment on the directive in section 3 of the Foreign and Economic Espionage Penalty Enhancement Act of 2012, Public Law 112 , relating to offenses involving stolen trade secrets or economic espionage; (3) proposed changes to the guidelines applicable to offenses involving counterfeit or adulterated drugs or counterfeit military parts, including (A) a proposed amendment on offenses involving counterfeit military goods and services, including options to amend Sec. 2B5.3 (Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark) or Appendix A (Statutory Index) with respect to such offenses to address the statutory changes to 18 U.S.C. 2320 made by section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, Public Law 112-81 (December 31, 2011); (B) a proposed amendment on offenses involving counterfeit drugs, including options to amend Sec. 2B5.3 or Appendix A with respect to such offenses to address the statutory changes to 18 U.S.C. 2320, and to implement the directive to the Commission, in section 717 of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, Public Law 112-144 (July 9, 2012); and (C) a proposed amendment on offenses involving adulterated drugs, including options to amend Sec. 2N2.1 (Violations of Statutes and Regulations Dealing With Any Food, Drug, Biological Product, Device, Cosmetic, Agricultural Product, or Consumer Product) or Appendix A with respect to such offenses to address the statutory changes to 21 U.S.C. 333 in section 716 of such Act; and related issues for comment; (4) a proposed amendment to Sec. 2T1.1 (Tax Evasion; Willful Failure to File Return, Supply Information, or Pay Tax; Fraudulent or False Returns, Statements, or Other Documents) to respond to a circuit conflict over whether a sentencing court, in calculating the tax loss in a tax case, may subtract the unclaimed deductions that the defendant legitimately could have claimed if he or she had filed an accurate tax return, and related issues for comment; (5) a proposed amendment and issues for comment in response to two circuit conflicts relating to the circumstances under which the defendant is eligible for a third level of reduction under subsection (b) of Sec. 3E1.1 (Acceptance of Responsibility), including (A) a proposed amendment to Sec. 3E1.1 to respond to a circuit conflict over whether the court has discretion to deny the third level of reduction when the government has filed the motion described in subsection (b), which would recognize that the court does have such discretion; and (B) an issue for comment on a circuit conflict over whether the government has discretion to withhold making a motion under subsection (b) when there is no evidence that the government was required to prepare for trial; (6) a proposed amendment to Sec. 5G1.3 (Imposition of a Sentence on a Defendant Subject to an Undischarged Term of Imprisonment) to respond to Setser v. United States, U.S. (March 28, 2012), which held that a federal court in imposing sentence generally has discretion to order that the sentence run consecutive to (or concurrently with) an anticipated, but not yet imposed, term of imprisonment; and (7) a proposed amendment and related issue for comment in response to miscellaneous issues arising from legislation recently enacted and to address technical and stylistic issues in the guidelines, including (A) proposed changes to Appendix A (Statutory Index) to address certain criminal provisions in the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Public Law 112-95 (February 14, 2012); the Child Protection Act of 2012, Public Law 112-206 (December 7, 2012); the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011, Public Law 112-98 (March 8, 2012); and the Ultralight Aircraft Smuggling Prevention Act of 2012, Public Law 112-93 (February 10, 2012); (B) a proposed change to Appendix A (Statutory Index) to address offenses under 18 U.S.C. 554; (C) proposed changes to guidelines in Chapter Two, Part J (Offenses Involving the Administration of Justice) to address an application issue involving the interaction of those guidelines with adjustments in Chapter Three, Part C (Obstruction and Related Adjustments); and (D) technical and stylistic changes.