I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2213

To study the incidence of downward departures in criminal cases and repeal 

provisions of the PROTECT Act that do not specifically deal with the 

prevention of the exploitation of children. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2003

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. WATT, Ms. 

WATERS, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. LEE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. FILNER, Ms. 

MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, and Mr. HONDA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To study the incidence of downward departures in criminal 

cases and repeal provisions of the PROTECT Act that 

do not specifically deal with the prevention of the exploitation of children.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Judicial Use of Discre5 tion to Guarantee Equity in Sentencing Act of 2003’’ or 

6 ‘‘JUDGES Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. A REPORT ON THE INCIDENCE OF DOWNWARD DE2 PARTURES. 

3 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the United 

5 States Sentencing Commission shall submit to Congress 

6 a report on the incidence of downward departures from 

7 the United States Sentencing Guidelines. 

8 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT.—The report required by 

9 subsection (a) shall include—

10 (1) a discussion of the history and purpose of 

11 departures in the Federal sentencing guideline sys12 tem; 

13 (2) information on rates of departures from the 

14 sentencing guidelines, including information on vari15 ations in departure rates among different districts 

16 and judicial circuits, and among different offense 

17 and departure types, and an assessment of the fac18 tors that may account for these variations; 

19 (3) an analysis of the grounds provided by dis20 trict court judges when they depart from the guide21 lines, and whether the Commission should adopt 

22 guidelines or policy statement to prohibit, encourage, 

23 or discourage departures based on such grounds; 

24 (4) a review of departure appeals, including 

25 trends in the number and disposition of departure 

26 appeals; 
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1 (5) a comparison of the departure authority in 

2 Federal law with the departure authority in State 

3 sentencing guideline systems; 

4 (6) an assessment of the extent to which depar5 tures from the sentencing guidelines circumvent or 

6 promote operation of the sentencing guidelines sys7 tem; 

8 (7) an assessment of the extent to which depar9 tures from the sentencing guidelines undermine or 

10 promote the purposes of sentencing as set forth in 

11 section 3553(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code; 

12 (8) an assessment of variations in the mag13 nitude of departures and the frequency with which 

14 the final sentences result in imprisonment, inter15 mediate conditions of confinement, or release; 

16 (9) an assessment of the extent to which exist17 ing mechanisms to review departures from the sen18 tencing guidelines are sufficient to ensure that the 

19 purposes of sentencing referred to in paragraph (7) 

20 are achieved; and 

21 (10) any other information, assessments, or rec22 ommendations that the Commission considers to be 

23 appropriate. 

24 (c) PUBLIC HEARING.—In preparing the report, the 

25 Commission shall—
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1 (1) hold at least one public hearing on the sub2 ject of guideline departures; and 

3 (2) solicit the views of the Federal judiciary, 

4 the Department of Justice, the defense bar, and 

5 other interested parties. 

6 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF NONCONFORMING PROVISIONS. 

7 Subsections (c) through (h), and (j) through (n) of 

8 section 401 the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools 

9 to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003, 

10 or the PROTECT Act, are repealed, and shall be treated 

11 as though those subsections and the amendments made 

12 by those subsections had never taken effect.

Æ