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