NACDL News: Attorney General Sessions Issues Retrograde Charging Policy; Seeks Return to 20th Centur

On May 12, the Washington Post made public the May 10, 2017, Sessions Memo regarding Department of Justice charging and sentencing policy issued to more than 5,000 assistant U.S. attorneys and all assistant attorneys general. The policy represents a dramatic departure from the previous policy, which called for prosecutors in all cases to “individually evaluate the unique facts and circumstances and select charges and seek sentences that are fair and proportional based upon this individualized assessment.”