Jon Kyl: “I wish to comment on section 207 of the pending matter, the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007. Section 207…”

“I wish to comment on section 207 of the pending matter, the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007. Section 207 increases the statutory maximum penalties for the Federal offense of manslaughter. Pursuant to this legislation, the maximum penalty for involuntary manslaughter will be increased from 6 to 10 years, and the penalty for voluntary manslaughter will be increased from 10 to 20 years. This is a change that I sought to have included in last year's various court security bills. I am pleased to see that it will be included in this year's final Senate bill. The need for an increase in the manslaughter statutory maximum penalty is made clear in testimony that was presented before the U.S. Sentencing Commission by Paul Charlton, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, on March 25, 2003. Despite recent changes to the guidelines for manslaughter offenses, the typical DUI involuntary manslaughter crime still is subject to a sentencing range of only 30 to 37 months. Yet, as Mr. Charlton noted in his testimony, under Arizona State law, the presumptive sentence for a typical DUI involuntary manslaughter offense is 10½ years.”