I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2858 

To authorize the court to depart from a statutory minimum in the case 

of a juvenile offender, youthful victim offender, and certain other minors, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2021 

Mr. WESTERMAN (for himself, Ms. BASS, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, and Mr. TRONE) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize the court to depart from a statutory minimum 

in the case of a juvenile offender, youthful victim offender, and certain other minors, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Sara’s Law and the 

5 Preventing Unfair Sentencing Act of 2021’’. 

6 SECTION 2. SENTENCING YOUTHFUL VICTIM OFFENDERS 

7 WHO HAVE BEEN TRAFFICKED, ABUSED, OR 

8 ASSAULTED. 

9 (a) SENTENCING YOUTHFUL VICTIM OFFENDERS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3553 of chapter 227 

2 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by add3 ing at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(h) SENTENCING YOUTHFUL VICTIM OFFEND5 ERS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) STATUTORY MINIMUMS.—In the case of a 

7 youthful victim offender, the court shall have the au8 thority to impose a sentence that is below a level es9 tablished by statute as a minimum sentence so as to 

10 consider the effect of trauma on the offender’s con11 duct. 

12 ‘‘(2) SUSPENSION OF SENTENCE.—In the case 

13 of a youthful offender, the court shall have the au14 thority to suspend any portion of an imposed sen15 tence. 

16 ‘‘(3) YOUTHFUL VICTIM OFFENDER DE17 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘youthful vic18 tim offender’ means an individual who— 

19 ‘‘(A) has not attained the age of 18; and 

20 ‘‘(B) has been convicted of a violent of21 fense against a person who the court finds, by 

22 clear and convincing evidence, engaged in con23 duct against such individual, not earlier than 1 

24 year before such violent offense, that is an ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2858.IH H2858

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1 fense under section 1591 or an offense under 

2 chapter 71, 109A, 110, or 117.’’. 

3 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply only to a conviction entered 

5 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (b) DIRECTIVE TO SENTENCING COMMISSION.—Pur7 suant to its authority under section 994(p) of title 28, 

8 United States Code, and in accordance with this section, 

9 the United States Sentencing Commission shall review and 

10 amend, if appropriate, its guidelines and its policy state11 ments with respect to youthful victim offenders to ensure 

12 that the guidelines and policy statements are consistent 

13 with the amendments made by subsection (a). 

14 SECTION 3. SENTENCING JUVENILE OFFENDERS. 

15 (a) SENTENCING JUVENILE OFFENDERS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3553 of chapter 227 

17 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

18 (A) in subsection (a)— 

19 (i) in paragraph (6), by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

21 (ii) in paragraph (7), by striking the 

22 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

23 and 

24 (iii) by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(8) in the case of a juvenile (as such term is 

2 defined in section 5031), the diminished culpability 

3 of juveniles compared to that of adults.’’; and 

4 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(h) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY MINIMUM FOR JU6 VENILE OFFENDERS.—In the case of a juvenile (as such 

7 term is defined in section 5031), the court shall have the 

8 authority to impose a sentence that is 35 percent below 

9 a level established by statute as a minimum sentence so 

10 as to reflect the juvenile’s age and prospect for rehabilita11 tion.’’. 

12 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply only to a conviction entered 

14 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (b) DIRECTIVE TO SENTENCING COMMISSION.—Pur16 suant to its authority under section 994(p) of title 28, 

17 United States Code, and in accordance with this section, 

18 the United States Sentencing Commission shall review and 

19 amend, if appropriate, its guidelines and its policy state20 ments with respect to juveniles to ensure that the guide21 lines and policy statements are consistent with the amend22 ments made by subsection (a). 


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1 SECTION 4. PAROLE FOR JUVENILES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 403 of title 18, United 

3 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5032 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 5032A. Modification of an imposed term of impris6 onment for violations of law committed 

7 prior to age 18 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro9 vision of law, a court may reduce a term of imprisonment 

10 imposed upon a defendant convicted as an adult for an 

11 offense committed and completed before the defendant at12 tained 18 years of age if— 

13 ‘‘(1) the defendant has served not less than 20 

14 years in custody for the offense; and 

15 ‘‘(2) the court finds, after considering the fac16 tors set forth in subsection (c), that the defendant 

17 is not a danger to the safety of any person or the 

18 community and that the interests of justice warrant 

19 a sentence modification. 

20 ‘‘(b) SUPERVISED RELEASE.—Any defendant whose 

21 sentence is reduced pursuant to subsection (a) shall be or22 dered to serve a period of supervised release of not less 

23 than 5 years following release from imprisonment. The 

24 conditions of supervised release and any modification or 

25 revocation of the term of supervised release shall be in 

26 accordance with section 3583. 


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1 ‘‘(c) FACTORS AND INFORMATION TO BE CONSID2 ERED IN DETERMINING WHETHER TO MODIFY A TERM

3 OF IMPRISONMENT.—The court, in determining whether 

4 to reduce a term of imprisonment pursuant to subsection 

5 (a), shall consider— 

6 ‘‘(1) the factors described in section 3553(a), 

7 including the nature of the offense and the history 

8 and characteristics of the defendant; 

9 ‘‘(2) the age of the defendant at the time of the 

10 offense; 

11 ‘‘(3) a report and recommendation of the Bu12 reau of Prisons, including information on whether 

13 the defendant has substantially complied with the 

14 rules of each institution in which the defendant has 

15 been confined and whether the defendant has com16 pleted any educational, vocational, or other prison 

17 program, where available; 

18 ‘‘(4) a report and recommendation of the 

19 United States attorney for any district in which an 

20 offense for which the defendant is imprisoned was 

21 prosecuted; 

22 ‘‘(5) whether the defendant has demonstrated 

23 maturity, rehabilitation, and a fitness to reenter so24 ciety sufficient to justify a sentence reduction; 


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1 ‘‘(6) any statement, which may be presented 

2 orally or otherwise, by any victim of an offense for 

3 which the defendant is imprisoned or by a family 

4 member of the victim if the victim is deceased; 

5 ‘‘(7) any report from a physical, mental, or psy6 chiatric examination of the defendant conducted by 

7 a licensed health care professional; 

8 ‘‘(8) the family and community circumstances 

9 of the defendant at the time of the offense, including 

10 any history of abuse, trauma, or involvement in the 

11 child welfare system; 

12 ‘‘(9) the extent of the role of the defendant in 

13 the offense and whether, and to what extent, an 

14 adult was involved in the offense; 

15 ‘‘(10) the diminished culpability of juveniles as 

16 compared to that of adults, and the hallmark fea17 tures of youth, including immaturity, impetuosity, 

18 and failure to appreciate risks and consequences, 

19 which counsel against sentencing juveniles to the 

20 otherwise applicable term of imprisonment; and 

21 ‘‘(11) any other information the court deter22 mines relevant to the decision of the court. 

23 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON APPLICATIONS PURSUANT TO

24 THIS SECTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) SECOND APPLICATION.—Not earlier than 

2 5 years after the date on which an order entered by 

3 a court on an initial application under this section 

4 becomes final, a court shall entertain a second appli5 cation by the same defendant under this section. 

6 ‘‘(2) FINAL APPLICATION.—Not earlier than 5 

7 years after the date on which an order entered by 

8 a court on a second application under paragraph (1) 

9 becomes final, a court shall entertain a final applica10 tion by the same defendant under this section. 

11 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION.—A court may not entertain 

12 an application filed after an application filed under 

13 paragraph (2) by the same defendant. 

14 ‘‘(e) PROCEDURES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—The Bureau of Prisons shall 

16 provide written notice of this section to— 

17 ‘‘(A) any defendant who has served not 

18 less than 19 years in prison for an offense com19 mitted and completed before the defendant at20 tained 18 years of age for which the defendant 

21 was convicted as an adult; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the sentencing court, the United 

23 States attorney, and the Federal Public De24 fender or Executive Director of the Community 

25 Defender Organization for the judicial district 


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1 in which the sentence described in subpara2 graph (A) was imposed. 

3 ‘‘(2) CRIME VICTIMS RIGHTS.—Upon receiving 

4 notice under paragraph (1), the United States attor5 ney shall provide any notifications required under 

6 section 3771. 

7 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An application for a 

9 sentence reduction under this section shall be 

10 filed as a motion to reduce the sentence of the 

11 defendant and may include affidavits or other 

12 written material. 

13 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—A motion to reduce 

14 a sentence under this section shall be filed with 

15 the sentencing court and a copy shall be served 

16 on the United States attorney for the judicial 

17 district in which the sentence was imposed. 

18 ‘‘(4) EXPANDING THE RECORD; HEARING.— 

19 ‘‘(A) EXPANDING THE RECORD.—After the 

20 filing of a motion to reduce a sentence under 

21 this section, the court may direct the parties to 

22 expand the record by submitting additional 

23 written materials relating to the motion. 

24 ‘‘(B) HEARING.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The court shall 

2 conduct a hearing on the motion, at which 

3 the defendant and counsel for the defend4 ant shall be given the opportunity to be 

5 heard. 

6 ‘‘(ii) EVIDENCE.—In a hearing under 

7 this section, the court may allow parties to 

8 present evidence. 

9 ‘‘(iii) DEFENDANT’S PRESENCE.—At 

10 a hearing under this section, the defendant 

11 shall be present unless the defendant 

12 waives the right to be present. The re13 quirement under this clause may be satis14 fied by the defendant appearing by video 

15 teleconference. 

16 ‘‘(iv) COUNSEL.—A defendant who is 

17 unable to obtain counsel is entitled to have 

18 counsel appointed to represent the defend19 ant for proceedings under this section, in20 cluding any appeal, unless the defendant 

21 waives the right to counsel. 

22 ‘‘(v) FINDINGS.—The court shall state 

23 in open court, and file in writing, the rea24 sons for granting or denying a motion 

25 under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(C) APPEAL.—The Government or the 

2 defendant may file a notice of appeal in the dis3 trict court for review of a final order under this 

4 section. The time limit for filing such appeal 

5 shall be governed by rule 4(a) of the Federal 

6 Rules of Appellate Procedure. 

7 ‘‘(f) EDUCATIONAL AND REHABILITATIVE PRO8 GRAMS.—A defendant who is convicted and sentenced as 

9 an adult for an offense committed and completed before 

10 the defendant attained 18 years of age may not be de11 prived of any educational, training, or rehabilitative pro12 gram that is otherwise available to the general prison pop13 ulation.’’. 

14 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

15 chapter 403 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

16 by inserting after the item relating to section 5032 the 

17 following: 

‘‘5032A. Modification of an imposed term of imprisonment for violations of law 

committed prior to age 18.’’. 

18 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

19 section shall apply to any conviction entered before, on, 

20 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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