Ashcroft Watches Judges and Soft Sentencing Story aired: Wednesday, August 06, 2003
Attorney General John Ashcroft has taken another step in his battle with federal judges over sentencing guidelines.
In a memo, issued last week, Ashcroft instructs government prosecutors to report judges who hand down lenient sentences and to launch more appeals against sentences they don't like.
The move, which has been widely expected, is a Justice Department effort to enforce a new congressional measure known as the Feeney Amendment. That amendment makes it easier for appeals courts to lengthen sentences that are shorter than those set out by federal guidelines.
The Feeney Amendment has been blasted by a number of federal judges. One of them, Judge Nancy Gertner of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, joins Here and Now.
Guests:
Judge Nancy Gertner of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
