WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Attorney General John Ashcroft has ordered government lawyers to report judges who give out soft sentences.
The Wall Street Journal said Wednesday Ashcroft also ordered state lawyers to start appealing the soft sentences -- those shorter than the minimums set by federal guidelines -- in far higher numbers.
The move was anticipated under a measure known as the Feeney amendment, adopted by Congress in April to strengthen judges' adherence to new, stricter sentencing guidelines.
Many judges, including U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, view the new rules as a further attack on their independence.
Judges' criticism of the Justice Department and the Congress has been at a fever pitch since President Bush signed the Feeney amendment into law. The measure makes it easier for appeals courts to lengthen sentences set by judges that are shorter than those in the federal guidelines. It puts federal judges on notice that they'll be challenged on such sentences and be reported to Congress for giving them.
