This bill would prohibit federal judges from considering conduct that resulted in a defendant's acquittal when determining their sentence, except in cases where the acquitted conduct would reduce rather than increase the sentence. Currently, judges can consider acquitted conduct as a factor in sentencing even if a defendant was found not guilty of those specific charges, which critics argue allows punishment for crimes a person was acquitted of. The legislation applies to federal criminal sentencing and defines acquitted conduct as acts for which someone was found not guilty at trial or charges that were dismissed on motions for acquittal in federal, state, or tribal courts. The bill would only apply to sentences handed down after the law takes effect and does not require any new federal funding to implement.
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