Appendix A
Descriptions of Datafiles, Variables, and Footnotes Introduction
Introduction
Federal courts are required to forward to the Commission sentencing information on all defendants sentenced under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (SRA), except in cases that solely involve petty offenses. Standard information on each case is computerized for analysis using data from case files received.
Tables in this report use the Commission’s datafile, USSCFY02, which includes information on the 64,366 defendants sentenced under the SRA during fiscal year 2002 (October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002), for whom data were received as of April 28, 2004. Given the nature of the datafile and reporting requirements, the following are not included: cases initiated but for which no convictions were obtained, defendants convicted for whom no sentences were yet issued, and defendants sentenced but for whom no data were submitted to the Commission.
Because the Commission collects information only on cases sentenced under the guidelines, information on cases sentenced under prior law (preguidelines) during FY2002 is not available in this dataset. When cases are sentenced under both prior law and the guidelines, only the guideline relevant information is coded in the dataset.
Variables
The following section describes the variables used in this report.
Age
The Age of the defendant on the day of sentencing
is calculated using the defendant’s
date of birth as reported in the Presentence Report and the date of sentencing
as reported in the Judgment of Conviction order.
Appeals
Appeals data are derived from analyses of opinions and orders from the
courts of appeals. For purposes of the appeals data, an appeals case is one in
which a federal court of appeals has issued an opinion or order. Opinions and
orders submitted by the courts are collected and coded. All appeals cases are
coded for identifying data, such as parties, disposition, date, and circuit.
In cases in which the appellant is appealing a sentencing issue, the sentencing
issue is coded. Conviction issues are not coded.
Average Length of Imprisonment
Using sentencing information obtained from the
Judgment of Conviction order, Average Length of Imprisonment is reported as
the mean and median terms of imprisonment (not including any months of alternative
confinement as defined in §5C1.1) ordered for cases committed to the Bureau
of Prisons. Cases that receive no term of imprisonment are not included in
the average. Cases for which a term of imprisonment is ordered but the length
is indeterminable also are excluded. In most cases for which the exact term
is unknown, the Judgment of Conviction order merely specifies a sentence of
time served. Prior to fiscal year 1993, the Commission defined life sentences
as 360 months. However, to reflect life expectancy of federal criminal defendants
more precisely and to provide more accurate length of imprisonment information,
life sentences are now defined as 470 months.
Chapter Two Guideline Applied
Chapter Two Guideline Applied represents the
offense specific guideline applied from that chapter. For cases in which
a cross reference is used, the guideline that most fully explains the sentence
is shown. The guideline applied is the last guideline referenced, and may
be equivalent to either the guideline referenced by statute or the cross-referenced
guideline.
Circuit
Information on judicial Circuit is generated by computer using the
location of the judicial district in which the defendant was sentenced.
Citizenship Status
Information on the Citizenship Status of defendants is obtained
from the Presentence Report. Defendants are categorized as one of the following: “U.S.
citizen,” “resident
alien,” “illegal alien,” and “non-U.S. citizen, alien
status unknown.” The latter three categories are collapsed into the
category of “non-U.S. citizen.”
Country of Citizenship
Information on the Country of Citizenship for non-U.S.
citizen defendants is obtained from the Presentence Report and includes the
most frequently occurring countries of origin for non-U.S. citizens. Countries
appearing less than 50 times are collapsed into the “other” category.
Criminal History Category
Criminal History Category is derived from the Report
on the Sentencing Hearing provided by the sentencing court. Tables involving
the Report on the Sentencing Hearing are based on the cases for which the
Commission has received such documents.
Criminal history category is taken from the Presentence Report when the Report on the Sentencing Hearing is not available. While the court may disagree with Presentence Report information, the criminal history category is the same in more than 95 percent of cases for which both documents were received.
Degree of Departures
Degree of Departure is based on the difference between
the length of imprisonment (not including any months of alternative confinement
as defined in §5C1.1)
and the endpoint of the applicable guideline range. Information on Degree
of Departure is calculated based on the extent of departure from the guideline
minimum for downward departure and substantial assistance cases and is measured
from the guideline maximum for upward departure cases. Life sentences, sentences
of probation, and cases where the guideline minimum is zero months are all
excluded from all degree of departure calculations due to the logical difficulty
in calculating a departure from these values.
Departures
Information on Departures is obtained primarily from the Report
on the Sentencing Hearing. A case is determined to involve no departure if
the sentence imposed is within the guideline range established by the court.
If the sentence falls outside this range, the case is coded as a departure,
and the applicable reasons given by the court are noted.
For cases in which no Report on the Sentencing Hearing is provided or the information contained in it is insufficient, the sentence from the Judgment of Conviction order is compared to the guideline range recommended in the Presentence Report. If the sentence imposed falls within the recommended range, the case is coded as within the guideline range. However, if the sentence falls outside the guideline range recommended by the probation officer, the case is not coded as a departure. Because the court may have changed the PSR findings, departure status is coded as missing departure status. Additionally, cases in which no guideline sentencing range was established (e.g., no analogous guideline offenses) are included in the missing departure category.
District
Information on the judicial District in which sentencing occurred
is obtained from the Judgment of Conviction order.
Document Submission Rates
Three documents are represented in Table 1: Judgment
of Conviction order (J&C),
Presentence Report (PSR), and Report on the Sentencing Hearing. The J&C
and PSR are generally submitted in a standardized format. PSRs waived by the
court are indicated in a separate column. Standardized forms for the Report
on the Sentencing Hearing are most frequently submitted; however, transcripts
or partial transcripts from the sentencing hearing are also included as Report
on the Sentencing Hearing Received.
Drug Amount
In a drug case, the amount of the controlled substance is obtained
from the Judgment of Conviction order or the Presentence Report and included
in the USSCFY02 datafile. It is used to apply the base offense level from USSG §2D1.1.
Table 42 shows the number of cases, mean drug weight, and median drug weight
for cases involving specific drug types that were sentenced under USSG §2D1.1
and received one of four relevant base offense levels.
Drug Offense Guideline
Drug Offense Guideline information is obtained from
the Presentence Report and is based on the guidelines in USSG Chapter Two,
Part D. The six guidelines featured in the tables (§2D1.1, §2D1.2, §2D1.5, §2D1.6, §2D1.8,
and §2D2.1) represent the vast majority of drug cases.
Drug Type
Information on Drug Type is obtained from the Judgment of Conviction
order or the Presentence Report. It is recorded only if at least one of the
statutes of conviction recorded by the Commission is a title 21 U.S. Code offense
or a non-title 21 offense when the underlying conduct involves a controlled
substance. Information about type of drug in the text and tables is derived
from the primary drug type (i.e., the type that produces the highest base
offense level). The category Marijuana includes Hashish and Hashish oil.
The category Methamphetamine includes pure (actual) methamphetamine, “ICE”,
methamphetamine mixture, and methamphetamine precursors. (“ICE” has
been included in the methamphetamine category since FY1996). All drug types
not listed separately in this report are collapsed into the “other” drug
category.
Education
Information on education of the defendant is obtained from the Presentence
Report and is collapsed into general categories. Technical, military, and
vocational training as well as course work at community colleges are included
in the Some College category. A general equivalency degree (GED) is included
in the High School Graduate category.