Sentencing Guidelines: Central Questions Remain Unanswered

• NCJ Number: 139505
• Author(s): L D Willis; J H Blume; W O Jenkins Jr; D A Knorr; M B McJunkin; W J Sabol; D M Sloane; D J Kirwin; N A Hofmann; J A Schneiberg; F T Lawson; J C Jones
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 197 pages
• Corporate Author: US Government Accountability Office
• Sale Source: Azimuth Inc.; National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 made fundamental changes to Federal sentencing policies by creating the U.S. Sentencing Commission and requiring this Commission to develop and evaluate sentencing guidelines.

Abstract

In January 1992, the Commission issued its report evaluating Federal sentencing guidelines. The Commission indicated that guideline implementation was moving forward, but remained in transition. Sentencing disparity had been reduced for cases of bank robbery, cocaine distribution, heroin distribution, and bank embezzlement. Nonetheless, the Commission found cases where the sentence imposed under the guidelines was related to the offender's race, gender, or employment status but not to age, marital status, or education. In analyzing how plea and charging agreements between prosecutors and defense attorneys affected sentencing under the guidelines, the Commission was not able to determine the effect of these decisions on sentencing disparity. The Commission did find that prosecutorial charge reductions and other bargaining appeared to have had an impact on the sentencing process in 17 percent of the cases it examined. In general, the Commission determined that sentencing guidelines had not removed all unwarranted disparity within a sentencing range. It also found that an area which may lead to unwarranted sentencing disparity under the guidelines involves presentencing decisions by prosecutors, defense attorneys, and others. These decisions include the use of discretion in the choice of charges filed and plea bargaining. In addition, the Commission determined that sentencing guidelines increased the workload of judges, prosecutors, probation officers, and defense attorneys. Appendixes contain supplemental information and data on changes in disparity between preguideline and guideline sentences, racial differences in robbery sentencing patterns under the guidelines, problems and benefits of the guidelines, and guideline impact on workloads. 57 tables and 22 figures