Flexibility and Discretion Available to the Sentencing Judge Under the Guidelines Regime

• NCJ Number: 136362
• Journal: Federal Probation Volume: 55 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1991) Pages: 10-15
• Author(s): E R Becker
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Federal sentencing guidelines have restricted judicial sentencing discretion, and many judges and probation officers feel the guidelines have made it difficult to administer just sentences.

Abstract

Even though the guidelines have curtailed sentencing discretion, the author believes the guidelines still contain considerable flexibility. The most widely recognized avenue of flexibility is the sentencing judge's ability to depart from the prescribed sentencing range. Another area of discretion lies in the judge's fact-finding role and the deference due the judge in applying the law to the facts. To take advantage of the flexibility in the guidelines, judges and probation officers should move away from viewing the guidelines as a totally mechanical scheme. Instead, the focus should be on rigorous analysis of the law and careful development of the facts. It is pointed out that flexibility has a price: the often considerable time and energy involved in developing a record, in making detailed fact findings, and in carefully analyzing governing statutes and their intersection with the guidelines. 40 footnotes