A bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators wants federal sentencing guidelines to distinguish between criminals who make sincere efforts and those who demonstrate no remorse.
A group led by Sens. Chris Coons (D., Del.), James Lankford (R., Okla.), Mike Lee (R., Utah), Thom Tillis (R., N.C.), Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.), and Roger Wicker (R., Miss.) and Reps. Laurel Lee (R., Fla.), Don Bacon (R., Neb.), Burgess Owens (R., Utah), Lucy McBath (D., Ga.), and Deborah Ross (D., N.C.) said in a letter obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter that it wants the Sentencing Commission to finalize the proposal to incentivize efforts at rehabilitation.
Current sentencing guidelines draw no distinction between two criminals who commit the same crime — but if one criminal turns their life around before sentencing, they will be sentenced under the same provisions that dictate the future of the unrepentant criminal.
“Our criminal justice system should be fair and focused on public safety,” Rep. Lee told the Reporter; one of her jobs prior to her time in Congress was serving as a Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, so she has seen criminal justice issues up close and personal. “When someone takes responsibility for their actions and makes genuine efforts to rehabilitate after an offense — by working, seeking treatment, supporting their family, or repairing harm — that should matter. The Sentencing Guidelines should reflect those real-world distinctions, so judges can impose sentences that fit both the crime and the individual. Recognizing post-offense rehabilitation creates incentives for accountability, reduces recidivism, and strengthens public safety. The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s proposal is a commonsense step toward a system that rewards responsibility and protects the public.”
The lawmakers who wrote to the U.S. Sentencing Commission are sponsors and cosponsors of legislation like the Safer Supervision Act of 2025, which “establishes a framework for early termination of supervision for individuals who have demonstrated good conduct and substantial compliance and also shown that termination of their supervision would not jeopardize public safety,” they said.
According to the bipartisan group, “the U.S. Supreme Court held in Pepper v. United States [that] evidence of rehabilitation that occurs prior to sentencing is ‘clearly relevant to the selection of an appropriate sentence’ under Section 3553 of Title 18.”
“But,” they noted, “data provided by Commission staff make clear that in practice this adjustment is driven entirely by one question only: whether or not the defendant pleads guilty. That means that two defendants who commit the same crime and both plead guilty (or both go to trial) will face the exact same Guidelines range, even if one defendant spent their time prior to sentencing working to remedy the harm they caused, participating in treatment or counseling, holding a job, supporting their family and community, preventing others from engaging in criminal conduct, or engaging in other positive behavior, while the other defendant did none of those things. That makes no sense.”
Currently, “Guidelines already account for various kinds of post-offense misconduct through its calculation of criminal history, relevant conduct, and other adjustments; it is time that it account for post- offense rehabilitation as well,” Lee and her colleagues said.
That point was echoed by Sen. Lee, who said that “under federal law, courts should consider the history and characteristics of a defendant when imposing sentence. However, the Sentencing Guidelines currently treat an unrepentant offender the same as one who sincerely seeks rehabilitation after committing a crime. Ignoring this distinction wastes time and money and gives criminals no incentive to change. The amendment under consideration will better effectuate the federal statute and allow law enforcement to focus resources on keeping the most dangerous criminals off our streets.”
“I applaud the U.S. Sentencing Commission for its ongoing work to improve the Sentencing Guidelines and urge continued efforts to improve public safety by accounting for significant differences between defendants,” Sen. Lee added.
“Committing a federal crime forever changes the life of the victim, the lives of their family, and the lives of the perpetrator,” Coons said. “We recognize that and punish it appropriately, but when that same individual makes the choice to rehabilitate, to give back to their communities, to try to make amends with their victims, even before they go to prison — we don’t afford them the same recognition. Our justice system should encourage rehabilitation by changing sentencing guidelines to take pre-sentencing rehabilitation into account.”
