The Associated Press
WASHINGTON- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales called Tuesday for requiring federal judges to adhere to guidelines that set mandatory minimum prison sentences, saying there is evidence of growing disparity in jail terms since a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
Gonzales, in remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday, also said judges should retain their discretion in imposing harsher prison terms than the minimum sentence.
Sentencing guidelines for federal prisoners have been in place for nearly two decades. But the Supreme Court in January said making the guidelines mandatory violated a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial because they call for judges to make factual decisions that could add to prison time, such as the amount of drugs involved in a crime.
Under the ruling, the guidelines now are only advisory. As a result, federal judges are free to sentence convicted criminals as they see fit, but they may be subject to reversal if appeals courts find them “unreasonable.”
Gonzales said that since the court ruling, he has seen “a drift toward lesser sentences,” while prosecutors have reported that defendants are less willing to cooperate without the threat of certain prison terms.
He was speaking Tuesday to a conference of the National Center for Victims of Crime.