[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1949 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1949

 To authorize the court to depart from a statutory minimum in the case 
            of a juvenile offender, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 28, 2019

Mr. Westerman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the court to depart from a statutory minimum in the case 
            of a juvenile offender, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SENTENCING JUVENILE OFFENDERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 3553 of chapter 227 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) in the case of a juvenile (as such term is defined in 
        section 5031), the diminished culpability of juveniles compared 
        to that of adults.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Limitation on Statutory Minimum for Juvenile Offenders.--In 
the case of a juvenile (as such term is defined in section 5031), the 
court shall have the authority to impose a sentence that is 35 percent 
below a level established by statute as a minimum sentence so as to 
reflect the juvenile's age and prospect for rehabilitation.''.
    (b) Application.--The amendments made by this section shall apply 
only to a conviction entered on or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 2. DIRECTIVE TO THE SENTENCING COMMISSION.

    Pursuant to its authority under section 994(p) of title 28, United 
States Code, and in accordance with this section, the United States 
Sentencing Commission shall review and amend, if appropriate, its 
guidelines and its policy statements with respect to juveniles to 
ensure that the guidelines and policy statements are consistent with 
the amendments made by section 2.
                                 <all>