NCJ Number
105989
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 77 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1986) Pages: 1112-1125
Date Published
1986
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The sentencing guidelines proposed by the U.S. Sentencing Commission in January 1987 do not provide a rational, principled sentencing system, do not reduce sentencing disparity, and are unnecessarily complex.
Abstract
Neither the preliminary draft of the sentencing guidelines issued in September 1986 nor the guidelines proposed in January 1987 reflect a coherent, articulated sentencing philosophy. The drafting was done in an ad hoc manner without the guidance of any sentencing principles, resulting in haphazard guidelines that are internally inconsistent. They do not consistently and rationally distinguish cases according to relevant offense and offender characteristics. The proposed guidelines do not reduce sentencing disparity for similar offenses committed by similar offenders. The guideline ranges for specific offenses are often far in excess of the 25 percent permitted by statute and are so broad as to be impractical. Further, the offense ranges are subject to one or more general adjustments, each of which gives the judge additional discretion. Proponents of sentencing guidelines tolerate the complexity of a guidelines system in the interest of reducing judicial sentencing discretion to provide standardized sentencing. The proposed guidelines are complex without reducing judicial discretion. The appendixes contain the available ranges and the percentage ranges for proposed guidelines for the 20 most prosecuted Federal offenses. 51 footnotes.