Sentencing Guidelines Educational Materials

Annual National Seminar on the Sentencing Guidelines

Materials from the Annual National Seminar on the Sentencing Guidelines

Basic Guideline Application

Robbery Exercise and Completed Worksheets - A brief scenario and completed worksheets illustrate basic application of the sentencing guidelines. (.PDF)

Instructional Videos are available on short-term loan from the Commission's Office of Education and Sentencing Practice. See descriptions in videotapes section.

Quick Reference Materials

Sentencing Table

Advanced Training Materials

CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL APPLICATION PRINCIPLES

RELEVANT CONDUCT

RETROACTIVITY

Crack Retroactivity: Procedural Issues (May 2009) (.PDF)

CLC/USSC Joint Memorandum to the Federal Judiciary from the respective Chairs of the Criminal Law Committee of the Judicial Conference and the United States Sentencing Commission Regarding Order Form (AO 247) for Use in Sentencing Modifications of Cocaine Base ("Crack Cocaine") Offenses, Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). (.PDF)

Slide Presentation from Crack Cocaine Retroactivity Summits in Charlotte and St. Louis (January 2008) (.PDF)

Selected Case Law Document from Crack Cocaine Retroactivity Summits in Charlotte and St. Louis (January 2008) (.PDF)

CHAPTER TWO - OFFENSE CONDUCT

CALCULATION OF "LOSS"

Loss Issues (April 2009) (.PDF)

CULTURAL HERITAGE

DRUGS

Drug Primer (April 2009) (.PDF)

FIREARMS

Firearms Primer (April 2009) (.PDF)

IMMIGRATION

Immigration Primer (April 2009) (.PDF)

SEX OFFENSES

Sex Offense Primer: Offenses Involving Commercial Sex Acts and Sexual Exploitation of Minors (February 2009) (.PDF)

Sex Offense Primer: Sexual Abuse and failure to Register Offenses (February 2009) (.PDF)

CHAPTER THREE - ADJUSTMENTS

MULTIPLE COUNTS

Multiple Counts Checklist - An aid to applying Chapter Three, Part D of the guidelines.

CHAPTER FOUR - CRIMINAL HISTORY AND CRIMINAL LIVELIHOOD

CHAPTER FIVE - DETERMINING THE SENTENCE

RESTITUTION

Reference Outline: "Restitution in Federal Criminal Cases" by Cathy Goodwin. This article includes a brief overview of the history of restitution, the 5-steps in determining restitution, and recent issues in litigation regarding restitution. (July 2001)

Article: "Imposition and Enforcement of Restitution" by Cathy Goodwin. From Federal Probation, volume 64, number 1, June 2000, pp. 62-72. This article discusses legal issues on imposing restitution, including the determination of ability to pay and assets for imposing payment, as well as issues on enforcing restitution orders during supervision and at revocation based on non-payment.(June 2000)(.PDF)

Article: "Update on Selected Restitution Issues" by Cathy Goodwin. This article provides expanded guidance and updated case law on the principles discussed in two previous Federal Probation articles on restitution: 1) the December 1998 article that introduced the 5-step analysis to determining victims and harms for restitution, and 2) the June 2000 article on the imposition and enforcement of restitution. (June 2001)

Article: "The Imposition of Restitution in Federal Criminal Cases," by Cathy Goodwin. From Federal Probation, volume 62, number 2, December 1998, pages 95-108.

Article: "Comparison of the New Calculation of Economic 'Loss' With That of Restitution." by Cathy Goodwin. (May 2002) (.PDF)

Quick Quiz on Comparison of Economic "Loss" and Restitution This quiz is used in conjunction with above article "Comparison of the New Calculation of Economic "Loss" with that of Restitution." (May 2002)

Restitution Examples and Analysis prepared by Cathy Goodwin and distributed at the Eleventh Annual National Seminar on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (May 2002)

Videotape Available. See descriptions in videotapes section.

DEPARTURES

Selected Departure and Variance Decisions (May 2009) (.PDF)

CHAPTER SEVEN - VIOLATIONS OF PROBATION AND SUPERVISED RELEASE

Article: "Revocation of Probation and Supervised Release." Frances Pratt (October 2004) (.PDF)

Revocation Tables

CHAPTER EIGHT - SENTENCING OF ORGANIZATIONS

Organizational Guidelines and Compliance

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If you have questions relating to the availability of any of the training documents listed, please fee free to contact the USSC Training Coordinator at (202)502-4564.