H.R. 6471 — Justice in Sentencing for Survivors Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings on (1) the United States having one of the world's highest incarceration rates despite comprising less than 5% of the global population, with over 1,900,000 people incarcerated across state and federal prisons, local jails, juvenile facilities, immigration detention, and tribal jails; (2) a more than 625% increase in incarcerated women from 26,326 in 1980 to 190,600 in 2024; (3) over 77 million Americans with criminal records facing barriers to housing, jobs, healthcare, food assistance, and other services; (4) punishment of abuse and sex trafficking survivors by the legal system; and (5) elevated trauma rates among incarcerated individuals, including 86% of incarcerated women reporting lifetime sexual violence, 77% partner violence, and 60% caregiver violence.

This section authorizes federal courts to impose sentences below statutory minimums or alternative sentences of probation or community confinement—or both—for "victim offenders" (i.e., individuals whose criminal behavior was significantly influenced by prior sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, domestic violence, or severe forms of trafficking in persons, but who have not been convicted of a sex offense). Such leniency applies regardless of whether the prior abuse caused physical injury, was long-term or contemporaneous with the offense, or was perpetrated by the same person victimized in the offense; courts may consider affidavits demonstrating abuse by a preponderance of the evidence. The section applies to sentences imposed on or after enactment and, for prior federal convictions, allows sentencing courts to modify sentences on motion by the offender, Bureau of Prisons, government attorney, or sua sponte; it also directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend federal sentencing guidelines to account for these victim experiences as a sentencing factor.