Sentencing Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: An Abridged Terrorism Related Example (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
April 5, 2005 |
| Report Number |
RS22105 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Charles Doyle, American Law Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Until recently, the federal Sentencing Guidelines determined the sentences meted out as
punishment
for most federal crimes. Then the Supreme Court declared that as a matter of constitutional necessity
the Guidelines must be viewed as advisory rather than mandatory. The Guidelines remain a major
consideration nevertheless. The Guidelines system is essentially a scorecard system. The purpose
of this report is to give a bare bones description of the score-keeping process with a simple example
of how it works in a terrorism related case.
This report is an abridged version -- without footnotes, appendices, and most of its quotation
marks and citations of authority -- of CRS Report RL32846(pdf) , How the Federal Sentencing
Guidelines
Work: Two Examples .
