United States Sentencing Commission Tribal Issues Advisory Group

Tribal Issues Advisory Group Public Hearing

July 21, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

Today, the United States Sentencing Commission (“Commission”) is holding a public hearing to receive testimony from members of its Tribal Issues Advisory Group (TIAG) on their final report addressing federal sentencing issues relating to American Indian defendants and victims, and to offenses committed in Indian country.

View the hearing agenda.

The Commission has proposed that studying the findings and recommendations contained in the May 2016 report and consideration of any subsequent amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines be one of its policy priorities for the upcoming amendment year (ending May 1, 2017). The Commission is accepting public comment on all proposed priorities through July 25, 2016.

The hearing will be from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm EST at the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, One Columbus Circle NE, in Suite 2-500 (South Lobby), and will be broadcast live at

here: http://www.ussc.gov/education/videos/public-hearing-july-21-2016

Tribal Issues Advisory Group’s Final Report on Impact of Sentencing Guidelines

June 29, 2016Sarah M Donnelly1 Comment

Link to final report (PDF) here.

Link to previous coverage here.

Some key recommendations:

Adding commentary to guide when tribal court convictions may be considered for a possible upward departure in the defendant’s criminal history category.
Establishing a standing advisory group on tribal issues to assist the Commission on changes to the Guidelines impacting American Indian defendants, to advise on and assist in tribal consultation, and to form the basis for a new TIAG when appropriate.
Creating a process for the collection of better data on federal court sentencing to allow for study of the protection order provisions of the Guidelines and analysis of sentencing disparity concerns as detailed herein;
Considering the recommendations of other working groups regarding juvenile offenders, including possibly collapsing sentencing zones A, B, and C into a single zone.