NCJ Number
109846
Date Published
1987
Length
17 pages
Annotation
After discussing the House Judiciary Committee's major criticisms of the sentencing guidelines and the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, the committee reports favorably on an amendment to the bill which would delay the implementation of the sentencing guidelines.
Abstract
The Judiciary Committee's major criticisms of the proposed sentencing guidelines pertain to the Sentencing Commission's failure to adopt a coherent philosophy, the guidelines' use of alternatives to incarceration, prison impact, plea bargaining and prosecutorial discretion, due process considerations, and the effect of the guidelines on judicial resources. The amendment to the bill would delay the implementation of the sentencing guidelines for 9 months, clarify that the initial guidelines issued by the Sentencing Commission apply only to conduct occurring after the Sentencing Reform Act takes effect, provide for expedited appellate review of an anticipated constitutional challenge to the act, and modify the standard governing when judges can depart from the guidelines. The proposed delay would allow for training criminal justice personnel in the use of the guidelines and field testing to identify problems in applying the guidelines. A section-by-section analysis of the amendment is followed by the Congressional Budget Office's statement on the cost impact of the amendment.