
Justices Sotomayor and Barrett question the state of federal sentencing commission
CNN
Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by her conservative colleague Justice Amy Coney Barrett, raised concerns on Monday about disparities in the federal system over sentencing guidelines.
The United States Sentencing Commission has been unable to issue new guidelines to lower courts because the commission currently has an insufficient number of members to be able to reach a quorum, Sotomayor wrote for the duo in a statement.
"At this point, the Sentencing Commission has not had a quorum for three full years," Sotomayor wrote. She said as things stand, lower courts are currently divided on certain issues that could lead to "direct and severe" consequences for defendants' sentences.

The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his congressional briefings.












