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Supervised release: judges, probation and defenders urge discretion, fewer standard conditions and more early-termination access
Summary
Judges, probation, prosecutors and defenders debated proposed changes to supervised-release guidance. Many witnesses supported giving judges more discretion over terms, narrowing standard conditions and expanding early-termination practices; others urged careful, incremental changes and attention to public-safety measures.
WASHINGTON — The Sentencing Commission's Oct. 12 hearing devoted substantial time to proposed revisions to chapter 7 of the guidelines governing supervised release, including when courts should impose terms, which conditions are standard, and how early termination should be administered.
Judicial and probation perspective: Judge Edmond Chang, chair of the Judicial Conference's Criminal Law Committee, told the Commission judges need flexibility to set individualized supervised-release lengths and conditions pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3583(c). He recommended the Commission explicitly cite those statutory factors and said reducing a requirement that release length track statutory maxima would be appropriate. Judge Chang also suggested preserving "standard" conditions but ensuring judges make an individualized assessment available on the record.
Prosecutorial priorities: Nicholas Linder, chief of the criminal division for the Southern…
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