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sentencing policy
November 18, 2009
U.S. Sentencing Commission meets in Austin tomorrow
The U.S. Sentencing Commission will be in Austin tomorrow to hear from judges, prosecutors, academics and others with an interest in criminal sentencing from throughout Texas and nearby states.
The commission, made up of presidential appointees, chose Austin for the sixth of seven hearings being held throughout the United States to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, which spawned federal sentencing guidelines.
The 2-day event, which is free and open to the public, will include panels of federal district judges, federal appellate judges and a discussion on alternatives to incarceration. It will begin at 8:30 a.m. Thursday and continue through mid-day Friday at the University of Texas law school’s Eidman Courtroom, John B. Connally Center, 727 East Dean Keeton Street.
Among the speakers will be Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins. UT School of Social Work Professor Diana Dinitto, U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edith Jones, and Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Harley G. Lappin.
For a full agenda, click here.
Every year, the commission holds public hearings in Washington on proposed amendments to the sentencing guidelines, which are considered by judges but are not mandatory. Amendments become law if Congress does not interject.
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