ADVISORY/Roundtable Discussion of U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Presented by Columbia Law School and The National Law Journal, November 18 at 7:00 PM

Business Wire, Nov 17, 2003

Business Editors/Legal Writers

ADVISORY...for Tuesday (Nov. 18)

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 2003

The National Law Journal

WHAT:       "Federal Judicial Independence: Who Truly Wields Power
            in the Courtroom?" -- A Roundtable Discussion Presented by
            Columbia Law School and The National Law Journal

            On April 30, after reported lobbying by the U.S.
            Department of Justice, Congress passed the "Feeney
            amendment," which restricts the discretion of federal
            judges to give more lenient sentences, or "downward
            depart," from the U.S. Sentencing guidelines. The law
            calls for the U.S. Sentencing Commission to report
            downward-departure trends to Congress, which in turn means
            that judges must self-report such sentences--and their
            grounds for them--to the Commission. The provision has
            caused a firestorm of debate over the appropriate extent
            of executive and legislative branch intrusion into the
            province of the federal judiciary. It has brought to a
            head a dispute that has been simmering over judicial
            independence since the Guidelines were enacted. Fanning
            the fire is a recent directive issued by the U.S. Attorney
            General to federal prosecutors requiring them to report
            all downward departures to the U.S. Department of Justice.

WHO:
PANELISTS:  Hon. John S. Martin, Jr.,Of counsel to Debevoise &
            Plimpton and former U.S. District Court Judge. (Martin
            resigned from the federal bench this summer in protest of
            the Feeney amendment)

            Roslynn R. Mauskopf, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern
            District of New York

            Gerald Lefcourt, Criminal defense lawyer and past
            president of the National Association of Criminal Defense
            Lawyers.

            John R. Steer, Vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing
            Commission

MODERATORS: Gerard E. Lynch, The Paul J. Kellner Professor of
            Law at Columbia Law School and U.S. District Court Judge,
            Southern District of New York

            Carla T. Main, Associate Editor of The National Law
            Journal

WHEN:       Tuesday, November 18 at 7 p.m.

WHERE:      Columbia University School of Law
            Jerome L. Greene Hall, Proskauer Auditorium
            435 West 116th Street
            New York, New York 10027

            Advance Registration: nlj@law.columbia.edu

            For Additional Information:
            http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/roundtable.jsp