The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers continues its effort to stop the Feeney Amendment by lobbying individual members of Congress, notifying federal judges, and helping to bring about favorable editorials.

The conference committee (comprised of select members of the house and senate judiciary committees) will meet tomorrow afternoon to hammer out a final bill.

If the Feeney Amendment makes it out of conference committee, it will be extremely difficult to stop. Now is the time to notify your federal judges and lobby your members of congress -- particularly if you are represented by any of the republican conferees. Be sure to call their attention to the federal judicial conference letter in opposition.

The judicial conference letter, the Washington Post and New York Times editorials, a list of the conferees with contact information, and other related documents are available on NACDL's comprehensive and up-to-date web page.

Background of Feeney Amendment to W. 151:

The House of Representatives passed legislation on March 27 that would, among other things, radically limit judicial discretion to grant downward departures from the federal sentencing guidelines. This legislation -- sometimes referred to as the Feeney Amendment -- constitutes an extraordinary transfer of power to federal prosecutors, dramatic changes to the laws and procedures that govern sentencing and a drastic encroachment on the independence of the federal judiciary. It places virtually all sentencing discretion in the hands of federal prosecutors. The amendment was attached to child abduction legislation at the last minute in an effort to avoid a debate of its merits and a discussion of its flaws. No input from the sentencing commission, the bar or federal judges was sought.

Here's more, from another defender email we just received: