WASHINGTON, DC, January 19, 2005 — The National Legal Aid & Defender Association welcomes the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision handed down in United States v. Booker and United States v. Fanfan, declaring federal criminal sentencing guidelines as unconstitutional and no longer binding on federal judges. As a result, federal judges will no longer be forced to mechanically impose unjustly harsh sentences. They will now be able to tailor sentences by considering the individual circumstances on a case-by-case basis.

“There are many thousands of federal criminal prosecutions where the courts will now be able to fashion sentences other than long penitentiary terms that protect society, hold the defendant accountable and start the process of rehabilitation at a great savings to the taxpayer,” said Ross Shepard, NLADA director of defender legal services. For more information on NLADA’s sentencing reform efforts, contact Ross Shepard at (202) 452-0620, ext. 212.

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The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), founded in 1911, is the oldest and largest national, nonprofit membership organization devoting all of its resources to advocating for equal access to justice for all Americans. NLADA champions effective legal assistance for people who cannot afford counsel, serves as a collective voice for both civil legal services and public defense services throughout the nation and provides a wide range of services and benefits to its individual and organizational members.