“A bill to prohibit the consideration of perceived gender identity in sentencing.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section restructures the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)—which require courts to impose a sentence sufficient but not greater than necessary to achieve specified purposes (e.g., reflecting offense seriousness, deterrence, public protection, and defendant rehabilitation), while considering offense nature, defendant history, available sentences, and Sentencing Commission guidelines—by redesignating existing paragraphs (1) through (7) as subparagraphs (A) through (G) under a new paragraph (1); and adds paragraph (2) prohibiting courts from considering the defendant's perceived gender identity (defined in 3553(g) as self-identified gender identity distinct from biological sex) as a mitigating factor directly relevant to history or rehabilitation. (Thus, courts may not reduce sentences based on such identity.) The section also makes conforming amendments to cross-references in multiple sections of Titles 6, 18, and 28 (e.g., changing "3553(a)(2)" to "3553(a)(1)(B)"); and directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines manual within 30 days of enactment to prohibit such considerations.