UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
IN RE: RETROACTIVE APPLICATION OF
U.S. SENTENCING GUIDELINE
AMENDMENT 821, PARTS A & B,
SUBPART 1
GENERAL ORDER
The U.S. Sentencing Commission has promulgated a series of revisions to the U.S.
Sentencing Guidelines through Amendment 821, which was effective November 1, 2023.
The Commission has determined that Part A and Subpart 1 of Part B of Amendment 821
should be made retroactive, permitting defendants to receive sentence reductions pursuant
to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). See U.S.S.G. amend. 825. Part A of the amendment addresses
criminal history “status” points assigned under U.S.S.G. §4A1.1, decreasing them by one
point for individuals with seven or more criminal history points and eliminating them for
those with six or fewer criminal history points. Subpart 1 of Part B creates a new Guideline,
U.S.S.G. § 4C1.1, which provides a decrease of two offense levels for “Zero-Point
Offenders” (no criminal history points) whose offense did not involve specific factors. In
the interest of applying the retroactive amendment fairly, expeditiously, and without undue
expenditure of judicial resources, the Court hereby orders as follows:
IT IS ORDERED that the Retroactivity Screening Committee for Amendment 821
(the 821 Committee) is hereby created. The 821 Committee shall consist of at least one
representative from each of the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Eastern District
of Louisiana (“FPD”), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana
(“USAO”), and the U.S. Probation Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana (“USPO”).
The 821 Committee is directed to review all cases of defendants identified as potentially
eligible for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c) based on retroactive application
of Parts A and Part B, Subpart 1, of Amendment 821. That review shall encompass all
potentially eligible cases identified by the United States Sentencing Commission and the
United States Probation Office, as well as any cases independently identified by the FPD
or USAO. The 821 Committee shall also review the cases of all defendants who file
motions seeking sentence reductions under § 3582(c)(2) based on Part A and Part B,
Subpart 1, of Amendment 821.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the FPD is hereby appointed to represent any
defendant who is potentially eligible for a reduction of sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)
based on the reduction authorized by Part A and Subpart 1 of Part B of Amendment 821.
An FPD attorney shall be permitted to file a motion to enroll and file supporting
memoranda in any case in which the FPD determines the defendant is eligible for a
reduction. In the event the FPD determines there is a conflict of interest necessitating the
appointment of conflict counsel, an attorney shall be appointed through the Criminal
Justice Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(1) and (c).
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the U.S. Probation Office and U.S. District
Court Clerk’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana are authorized to disclose and
shall, upon request from any 821 Committee member, provide to the FPD and USAO any
documents necessary to determine a defendant’s eligibility for a sentence reduction and the
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extent of any such reduction. Those documents shall specifically include: presentence
investigation reports and addenda, judgments, statements of reasons, plea agreements,
factual bases, verdict forms, orders on post-conviction motions (including prior sentence
reduction motions), and the defendant’s education data, transcripts, disciplinary records,
and sentence computation data from the federal Bureau of Prisons. The 821 Committee
members may review these materials for the sole purpose of determining eligibility for a
sentence reduction under § 3582(c)(2) based on the retroactive application of Part A and
Subpart 1 of Part B of Amendment 821, and the 821 Committee may not disclose these
materials except to subsequently appointed counsel for the defendant, unless otherwise
ordered by the Court.
In all cases where the defendant has filed a motion for a sentence reduction or at
least one member of the 821 Committee determines the defendant is eligible for a
reduction, the 821 Committee shall complete and submit an Amendment 821 Screening
Form to the U.S. District Court Judge assigned to the case. If a defendant has not filed a
§ 3582(c)(2) motion, and the 821 Committee members unanimously agree that the
defendant is not eligible for a § 3582(c)(2) reduction, the committee shall not submit a
screening form unless specifically requested to do so by the District Judge. The screening
forms shall indicate whether there is any agreement between the FPD and USAO regarding
the defendant’s eligibility for a sentence reduction and the action to be requested from the
sentencing court. In the event of disagreement, the form will state the date on which the
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FPD will file a motion/memorandum seeking a reduction on behalf of the defendant, as
well as the date on which the USAO will file any response.
To facilitate the timely review and resolution of eligible cases, the Court has
obtained from the U.S. Sentencing Commission a list of individuals sentenced in the
Eastern District of Louisiana who the Commission has identified as potentially eligible for
sentence reductions. A copy of that list will be provided to the FPD, USAO, and USPO.
Additionally, the USPO is directed to generate and provide to the 821 Committee a list of
people sentenced in the Eastern District of Louisiana who either (1) received status points
under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.1(d), or (2) received zero criminal history points, using the Probation
and Pretrial Services Automated Case Tracking System (PACTS).
IT IS SO ORDERED.
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, signed this _____
15th day of November, 2023
__________________________________
NANNETTE JOLIVETTE BROWN
CHIEF U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
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