At least three federal judges told the U.S. Sentencing Commission that they believe penalties for possession of child pornography are too high this week. One commissioner, Beryl Howell, responded that the issue "is on our priority list for the coming year," reports the National Law Journal.
"Chief Judge James Carr of the Northern District of Ohio and Chief
Judge Gerald Rosen of the Eastern District of Michigan told the panel
on Wednesday that sentencing for possession of child pornography, as
opposed to manufacture or commercial distribution, may need to be
changed," says the Journal.
A third judge, 7th Circuit Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook, agrees, says
the Journal. "He said it gives him pause when he sifts through a stack
of sentences that includes a bank robber getting a 10-month sentence
and a person convicted of downloading child pornography receiving a 480-month sentence."
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzerald, known nationally for his white collar
crime investigations of the Valerie Plame and Rod Blogojevich cases,
seemed to support reexamining sentencing. The Journal reports he will
testify this week that he "respectfully suggest[s] that this is an area
of sentencing that warrants further study and further education of all
involved."
