NCJ Number
148108
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1994) Pages: 259-287
Date Published
1994
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the debate about the Federal Sentencing Guidelines focuses on the philosophical, ideological, and historical context in which the guidelines were developed.
Abstract
The author argues that the criticism of sentencing prior to the guidelines is indicative of a shift in this country's paradigm for jurisprudence. The discussion outlines the evolution of 20th Century American jurisprudence and notes that the paradigm shift occurred at the end of the 1950's and continued into the 1970's and was concerned more with the legitimacy of the judiciary as an institution than with its sentencing practices. As such, the Guideline solution to indeterminate sentencing may be viewed not simply as a statement of current sentencing policy per se, but rather as contemporary documentation of the inclination of jurisprudential thinking in American criminal law at large. Moreover, the harsh criticism of the Guidelines, taken as a response to this basic shift in jurisprudence, suggests that the shift has been noticed although perhaps not identified. Footnotes