Quick Hit: U.S. Sentencing Commission is Considering Whether the Sentences for Possession of Child Porn May Be Too High

The National Law Journal reports that the U.S. Sentencing Commission is considering changes to the sentences for people convicted of possession of child porn, as opposed to manufacture or commercial distribution.  The article states that much of the review concerns the impact of the 2005 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Booker, which made the federal sentencing guidelines advisory as opposed to mandatory.  Some judges have said that “Many people convicted on the offense are not threats to the community, but rather socially awkward first-time offenders.”  In addition, the judges are concerned that the sentences being given have been consistently increasing and that they are often wildly inconsistent with sentences for other types of crimes.