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The
commission lost its quorum in January 2019, a month after former
Republican President Donald Trump signed into law the First Step
Act, bipartisan legislation aimed at easing harsh sentencing for
non-violent offenders and at reducing recidivism.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, its lone remaining member
and acting chair, said the lack of a quorum has meant the panel
has been unable to issue new guidelines for courts to apply.
The bipartisan slate of replacements includes U.S. District
Judge Carlton Reeves, a federal judge from Mississippi who would
be the first Black person to ever to chair the commission.
Claire McCusker Murray, a Justice Department official during the
Trump administration, would serve as vice chair.
John Gleeson, another nominee, is a prominent former federal
judge from Brooklyn and critic of mandatory minimum sentences
for drug crimes. U.S. Circuit Judge Luis Restrepo and Laura
Mate, director of the Sentencing Resource Counsel, both have
experience as public defenders.
Biden also nominated Candice Wong, a federal prosecutor in
Washington state, and U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom in
Kentucky.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Howard
Goller)
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