After a year of political paralysis that has left some federal criminal laws without corresponding sentencing guidelines, the White House announced on June 24 a full slate of seven nominees to fill an empty U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Chosen with the cooperation of Senate Republican leaders, the new commissioners will face the daunting task of addressing a backlog of staff guideline recommendations that have accumulated in the year since the agency had a quorum of four commissioners. They will also have the task of ironing out differences in guideline interpretations that have arisen among the federal circuits.
