Sentencing Options Under the Guidelines Staff Discussion Paper

United States Sentencing Commission

Sentencing Options Under the Guidelines
Staff Discussion Paper

Disclaimer: This document was developed by staff for discussion purposes only and does not represent the views of any commissioner. It should not be interpreted as legislative history to any subsequent Commission action. The discussion draft is provided to facilitate public comment on improving and simplifying the sentencing guidelines.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Statutory Directives

How the Guidelines Define and Allocate Sentencing Options

Criticisms of the Current Approach

How the Use of Sentencing Options has Changed Under the Guidelines

Complexity of the Current Guidelines

How Sentencing Options are Implemented by the BOP

How Judges Use the Currently Available Options

Factors that Account for Use or Non-Use of Available Options

Availability, Costs, and Benefits of Alternatives Used in the Federal System

Literature in Brief: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Particular Alternatives

Past Recommendations and Amendments Concerning Sentencing Options

Options for Simplification and Improvement

Appendix A


United States Sentencing Commission