Due Process Under Threat: This Week’s Legal Landscape

In the latest Set for Sentencing podcast, Sentencing Stats Co-Founder, Mark Allenbaugh, and advisor, Doug Passon discuss a major shift in the Sentencing Guidelines, which they predict will greatly reduce the relevance of the Guidelines, in favor of a focus on 3553a factors.

Kilmar Garcia-Abrego

The two examine the troubling case of Kilmar Garcia-Abrego, lawfully in the US before being removed to El Salvador without notice, hearing, or legal representation—a dangerous precedent for constitutional rights.

Key Guideline Changes:

• Supervised Release Reform: New guidelines clarify rehabilitation (not punishment) as the primary goal
• End of “Upward Departures”: Simplification of the sentencing process
• Warning for Attorneys: Successfully arguing against supervised release may affect clients’ early release eligibility

Future Concerns

Discussion of the Commission’s failure to address BOP conditions despite the 40-year-old mandate and the alarming possibility of moving BOP under DHS control.