A government panel could soon limit a little-known but outrageous practice that allows federal judges to enhance defendants' sentences based on conduct a jury acquitted them of.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission published proposed amendments to federal guidelines on December 14 that include three potential options to restrict judges' ability to use acquitted conduct at sentencing—a practice that a wide range of civil liberties advocates say is antithetical to the principles of the American justice system.
