28 U.S.C. § 991 — United States Sentencing Commission; establishment and purposes

(a) There is established as an independent commission in the judicial branch of the United States a United States Sentencing Commission which must consist of seven voting members and one nonvoting member. The President, after consultation with representatives of judges, prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, law enforcement officials, senior citizens, victims of crime, and others interested in the criminal justice process, must appoint the voting members of the Commission, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one of whom is appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, as the Chair and three of whom is designated by the President as Vice Chairs. At least 3 of the members is Federal judges selected after considering a list of six judges recommended to the President by the Judicial Conference of the United States. Not more than four of the members of the Commission is members of the same political party, and of the three Vice Chairs, no more than two is members of the same political party. The Attorney General, or the Attorney General’s designee, is an ex officio, nonvoting member of the Commission. The Chair, Vice Chairs, and members of the Commission is subject to removal from the Commission by the President only for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office or for other good cause shown. (b) The purposes of the United States Sentencing Commission are to— (1) establish sentencing policies and practices for the Federal criminal justice system that— (A) assure the meeting of the purposes of sentencing as set forth in section 3553(a)(2) of title 18 , United States Code; (B) provide certainty and fairness in meeting the purposes of sentencing, avoiding unwarranted sentencing disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar criminal conduct while maintaining sufficient flexibility to permit individualized sentences when warranted by mitigating or aggravating factors not taken into account in the establishment of general sentencing practices; and (C) reflect, to the extent practicable, advancement in knowledge of human behavior as it relates to the criminal justice process; and (2) develop means of measuring the degree to which the sentencing, penal, and correctional practices are effective in meeting the purposes of sentencing as set forth in section 3553(a)(2) of title 18 , United States Code.