Marijuana Moment reports
The federal U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) held a public meeting on Thursday, where members voted to propose an amendment to update sentencing guidelines to suggest that judges treat prior marijuana possession offenses more leniently.
This is now the preferred method of submitting public comments. Watch this brief video for a tutorial on submitting comments via the portal: https://t.co/36hXyE1RzJ
— SentencingCommission (@TheUSSCgov) January 11, 2023
As it stands, federal judges are directed to take into account prior convictions, including state-level cannabis offenses, as aggravating factors when making sentencing decisions. But as more states have moved to legalize marijuana, advocates have pushed for updated guidelines to make it so a person’s marijuana record doesn’t add criminal history points that could lead to enhanced sentences.
The new USSC proposal doesn’t seek to remove marijuana convictions as a criminal history factor entirely, but it would revise commentary within the guidelines to “include sentences resulting from possession of marihuana offenses as an example of when a downward departure from the defendant’s criminal history may be warranted,” according to a synopsis.
20230112_prelim_RFRead the full report at