NCJ Number
173527
Date Published
1997
Length
54 pages
Annotation
This 1996 Annual Report of the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Sentencing Commission describes the agency's research, training, and clearinghouse activities and provides information on Federal criminal cases sentenced under the guidelines in fiscal year 1996.
Abstract
A comprehensive review of the sentencing guidelines continued to be a top agency priority in 1996. The objective of this review is to reduce the complexity of guideline application and to assess how well the guidelines are meeting the congressional objectives outlined in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. The Commission declared a moratorium on guideline amendments in 1996, partly in response to requests from judges, attorneys, and probation officers. The Commission's training staff continued to provide guideline-application assistance to judges, probation officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and others. Two Commission-staffed "hotlines" for guideline application assistance continued to do booming business, and the Commission staff received and responded to thousands of information requests. The number of guideline cases rose to an all-time high of 42,436 in 1996, driven by an increase in drug and immigration cases. The vast majority of Federal defendants (80.8 percent) were sentenced to some term of incarceration, with an average sentence of 62 months. Seventy percent of all defendants were sentenced within their applicable guideline range. 71 footnotes