II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1596

To provide for application of the sentencing guidelines for certain nonviolent

offenses in which a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment would

otherwise be required.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 27 (legislative day, OCTOBER 13), 1993

Mr. SIMON (for himself, Mr. THURMOND, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SIMPSON, and

Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for application of the sentencing guidelines for

certain nonviolent offenses in which a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment would otherwise be required.

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 ‘‘Sentencing Improve5 ment Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FLEXIBILITY IN APPLICATION OF MANDATORY MIN2 IMUM SENTENCE PROVISIONS IN CERTAIN

3 CIRCUMSTANCES.

4 (a) AMENDMENT OF TITLE 18, UNITED STATES

5 CODE.—Section 3553 of title 18, United States Code, is

6 amended by adding at the end the following new sub7 section:

8 ‘‘(f) EXCEPTION TO CERTAIN STATUTORY MINIMUM

9 SENTENCING PROVISIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) SENTENCING UNDER THIS SECTION.—In

11 the case of an offense described in paragraph (2),

12 the court shall, notwithstanding the requirement of

13 a mandatory minimum sentence, impose a sentence

14 in accordance with this section and the sentencing

15 guidelines and any pertinent policy statement issued

16 by the United States Sentencing Commission.

17 ‘‘(2) OFFENSES.—An offense is described in

18 this paragraph if—

19 ‘‘(A) the defendant is subject to a manda20 tory minimum term of imprisonment for violat21 ing, attempting to violate, or conspiring to vio22 late section 401 or 404 of the Controlled Sub23 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 841 and 844) or section

24 1010 of the Controlled Substances Import and

25 Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960);
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1 ‘‘(B) the defendant does not have more

2 than 1 criminal history point under the sentenc3 ing guidelines;

4 ‘‘(C) the defendant did not cause, attempt

5 to cause, or credibly threaten to cause the death

6 of, or serious bodily injury to, any person dur7 ing the course of the offense;

8 ‘‘(D) the defendant did not carry or other9 wise possess a firearm or explosive during the

10 course of the offense and did not direct another

11 person to do so;

12 ‘‘(E) the defendant was not an organizer,

13 leader, manager, or supervisor of others (as de14 termined under the sentencing guidelines) in

15 the offense; and

16 ‘‘(F) the offense did not result in death or

17 serious bodily injury as a result of—

18 ‘‘(i) the use of the controlled sub19 stance; or

20 ‘‘(ii) the act of any person which was

21 reasonably foreseeable and for which the

22 defendant is legally accountable.’’.

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section

24 401(b) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.

25 841(b)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or section 3553(f) of
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1 title 18, United States Code,’’ after ‘‘420 of this title’’

2 the first time it appears.

3 (2) Section 404(a) of the Controlled Substances Act

4 (21 U.S.C. 844(a)) is amended by striking the penultimate

5 sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘A mandatory mini6 mum sentence required by this section shall not apply in

7 the case of a person subject to section 3553(f) of title 18,

8 United States Code.’’.

9 (3) Section 1010(a) of the Controlled Substances Im10 port and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960(a)) is amended by

11 inserting ‘‘, except as provided in section 3553(f) of title

12 18, United States Code’’ before the period.

13 (4) Section 411(a) of the Controlled Substances Act

14 (21 U.S.C. 851(a)) is amended by adding at the end there15 of the following new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(3) This section shall not apply to any determination

17 of a defendant’s criminal history under the sentencing

18 guidelines, including any determination of criminal history

19 that, under section 3553(f) of title 18, United States

20 Code, disqualifies the defendant from consideration for a

21 sentence below an otherwise applicable mandatory mini22 mum.’’.

23 (c) HARMONIZATION.—The United States Sentencing

24 Commission—
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1 (1) may make such amendments as it deems

2 necessary and appropriate to harmonize the sentenc3 ing guidelines and policy statements with section

4 3553(f) of title 18, United States Code, as added by

5 subsection (a), and promulgate policy statements to

6 assist the courts in interpreting that provision;

7 (2) shall review the consideration of defendants’

8 criminal histories under the guidelines and make

9 such amendments to the sentencing guidelines and

10 policy statements as the Commission determines nec11 essary and appropriate to ensure that—

12 (A) defendants with significant criminal

13 histories resulting from foreign convictions are

14 sentenced commensurate with the seriousness of

15 their prior criminal records to the extent that

16 consideration of such foreign convictions is con17 stitutional and practical;

18 (B) defendants with juvenile adjudications

19 involving significant acts of misconduct are sen20 tenced commensurate with the seriousness of

21 such misconduct to the extent that consider22 ation of such misconduct is practical and rel23 evant to the purposes of sentencing; and

24 (C) the assignment to a defendant of a sin25 gle criminal history point adequately reflects
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1 the seriousness of such a defendant’s prior

2 criminal conduct; and

3 (3) may promulgate any such amendments

4 under the procedures set forth in section 21(a) of

5 the Sentencing Act of 1987 (Public Law 100–182;

6 101 Stat. 1271), as though the authority under that

7 section had not expired.

8 (d) SENTENCING COMMISSION STUDY.—The United

9 States Sentencing Commission shall monitor the operation

10 of this Act and the amendments made by this Act and,

11 not later than 18 months following the date of enactment

12 of this Act, provide a report to Congress describing—

13 (1) sentences imposed under the Act;

14 (2) the findings pursuant to the review man15 dated by subsection (c)(2); and

16 (3) any recommendations for changes in the

17 Act that the Commission believes are warranted.

18 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

19 subsections (a) and (b) and any amendments to the sen20 tencing guidelines and policy statements made by the

21 United States Sentencing Commission pursuant to sub22 section (c) shall apply with respect to sentences imposed

23 for offenses committed on or after the date of enactment

24 of this Act.

Æ