The meeting was called to order at 2:07 p.m. by Chairman William W. Wilkins, Jr., in the conference room of the Sentencing Commission. The following Commissioners, staff, and guests participated:
William W. Wilkins, Jr., Chairman
Julie E. Carnes, Commissioner
Michael S. Gelacak, Commissioner
A. David Mazzone, Commissioner
Ilene H. Nagel, Commissioner
Roger Pauley, Ex Officio Commissioner
Edward Reilly, Ex Officio Commissioner
Phyllis J. Newton, Staff Director
Paul K. Martin, Deputy Staff Director
John R. Steer, General Counsel
Andy Purdy, Chief Deputy General Counsel
Winthrop Swenson, Deputy General Counsel
Vince Ventimiglia, Staff Attorney
Magdeline Jensen, Probation and Pretrial Services
Robert Storch, Public Integrity Section, DOJ
Chairman Wilkins introduced Charles Harrison and Greg Shields, both who have recently joined the Office of General Counsel as law clerks, Kimberly Kramer and Adam Murray, both who have recently joined the Office of Training and Technical Assistance as interns, and Mark Saltzberg, who will serve as a summer intern for Commissioner Nagel. He also introduced Probation Officer Willie LeDay (W.D. LA), on temporary assignment to the Commission.
Motion made by Commissioner Carnes to adopt the minutes of the May 25, 1993, meeting. Passed unanimously.
Vince Ventimiglia, briefing the Commission on the Public Corruption Working Group, stated that the working group was reviewing monitoring data, case law, and hotline calls in an attempt to profile the typical defendants and offense conduct. He proceeded to summarize the preliminary data findings, pointing to the high incidence of 5K1.1 departures for these cases. In response to the departure findings, Commissioner Nagel requested information concerning whether the substantial assistance departures of the E.D. Pennsylvania were single-defendant or multi-defendant cases. Robert Storch presented summary findings from a survey the Department of Justice did in 1991 concerning the public corruption guidelines.
Win Swenson, briefing the Commission on the Computer Fraud Working Group, stated that the group was focusing on the Department of Justice proposal, which promulgates a new 2F guideline to address harms that are either nonmonetary or otherwise not covered by 2F's definition of loss. He reported that the group was analyzing the 76 cases the Commission has regarding violations of 18 U.S.C. 1030 (Fraud and related activity in connection with computers). He further reported that initial findings show that loss amounts vary tremendously, but are generally under $100,000.
Chairman Wilkins reported that Chief Justice Rehnquist, addressing the Federal Judges Association, expressed his displeasure with mandatory minimum penalties and thought that the guidelines should be left to operate without interference from them.
Chairman Wilkins reported that the Criminal Law Committee meeting was quite positive. He reported that the Committee unanimously supported the Commission's proposed mandatory minimum legislation. Further, Staff Director Newton reported that the Committee agreed to add ethnicity to the facesheet of the presentence report at the Commission's request, and decided that the FJC should not go forward with a substantial assistance study.
Commissioner Reilly stated that the U.S. Parole Commission supported the Commission in its mandatory minimum legislation efforts.
General Counsel Steer briefed the Commission on the status of the lawsuit filed against the Commission by the Washington Legal Foundation seeking open meetings by the Environmental Advisory groups and access to certain documents.
Chairman Wilkins stated that the next Commission meeting would be held on July 27, 1993.
Chairman Wilkins adjourned the meeting into executive session at 3:56 p.m.
United States Sentencing Commission: