Mr. Giordano sought a reduction after federal sentencing guidelines were made advisory rather than mandatory.
If the changes go ahead, the European Court's judgments would be treated as "advisory" rather than binding in the future.
Given the lack of a written constitution, it was always the case that the referendum was advisory rather than binding.
Even though the guidelines are "merely advisory" rather than mandatory, as the Supreme Court ruled in 2005, they play an important role in sentencing.
The two decisions issued yesterday built on a 2005 decision that made the federal sentencing guidelines advisory rather than mandatory, which led to the modest trend toward leniency.
Although Tibetan monasteries have prided themselves on the presence of one or more lamas, they really stood above and outside the operational hierarchy, and their function was and is advisory rather than executive.
Among them, Mr. Bush used signing statements to instruct the State Department to interpret identical restrictions as "advisory" rather than mandatory, and his administration sent officials to a Development Program meeting in January.
While conference motions are advisory rather than binding, the decision will increase pressure upon Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, not to support military action if David Cameron puts forward a proposal to parliament next month.
That question, simple enough on the surface, goes to the heart of the shaky compromise the court achieved two years ago when it preserved the constitutionality of the guidelines by making them "advisory" rather than mandatory, while not explaining what advisory was supposed to mean.
At the other end of the age spectrum, the change to an "advisory" rather than compulsory 12 certificate exemplifies a move towards a policy which, to quote Robin Duval, "asks parents to take on the responsibility to be media literate" – meaning that they should decide for themselves whether their 10-year-old is sufficiently mature to handle a 12.
