When I say financial crime sentencing reform, I’m mostly talking about it in regards to harm done to individuals.

I think sentencing should be primarily based on the amount of overall harm that you caused to a person, not the amount you stole. General monetary amounts that dictate sentencing (like <$100,000 with a maximum sentence of x years, $250,000+ with a maximum sentence of x years, etc.) are incredibly regressive, and they give a lot of leniency to people that commit these financial crimes.

For example, let’s say you’re a fraudster and you steal $25,000 from a person that works minimum wage and has been saving up that money for the past 15 years. As a result, they are left homeless, jobless, and are on the bridge of death because of your financial crime. Due to sentencing guidelines, your crime (federally) would only give you a range of 6-12 months in prison.…