The Development of Federal Sentencing Guidelines

The Development of Federal Sentencing Guidelines
The federal sentencing guidelines refer to sentencing guidelines that outline uniform punishment policies that guide judges while assigning judgment for people and corporations convicted of felonies or serious crimes. The federal sentencing guidelines are applicable only when dealing with serious crimes. Before establishing the guideline in 1984, federal judges had more discreetness in sentencing individuals convicted of criminal acts. Occasionally, the discretion resulted in unequal sentences for similar unlawful activities. The sentencing guidelines eliminated the scenarios of disparate sentences and added uniformity to the criminal conviction process (Shein, 2019). The guidelines direct the sentencing judges to inflict fines, jail time, supervised release, and probation on each criminal case. After individuals are charged with federal criminal offenses should do multiple crucial things. First, they should clearly understand the guidelines since they substantially impact critical decisions such as whether an individual should plead guilty to an offense, whether cooperating with the government is a good idea and whether the case will finally proceed to trial.
Creator of the Guidelines
The federal sentencing policies were created by the The U.S. Sentencing Commission using Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, which formed the United States Sentencing Commission. The commission established conviction provisions and activities by publishing and modifying the federal sentencing rules and presenting statements to congress suggesting variations in the federal regulations connected to sentences. The sentencing policies that formed the federal sentencing guidelines were formulated in the county-wide areas, particularly around Chicago, Denver, and Philadelphia. The guidelines were later established in Michigan, Washington, and Delaware. Before 2005, the sentencing guidelines were compulsory, meaning that judges imposed the exact prescribed sentences (Shein, 2019). However, the United States Supreme Court changed the policies from mandatory to advisory in 2005. Changing the nature of the guidelines meant that federal judges must determine the procedures before sentencing an individual and should not entirely depend on the policies. Instead, federal judges should consider multiple crucial factors while punishing criminal offenders.
Court Considerations
Under federal law, the court must ask the defendant’s lawyer to speak on the client’s behalf before sentencing. Also, the court personally addresses the defendant and asks whether they wish to make any statement on their behalf and present any information to ease the punishment. When sentencing Mr Smith, the court will consider multiple factors. The first factor to consider will be the nature of the crime. Distribution of controlled substances is a felony and more serious crime than drug possession. The punishment for the activity varies differently depending on multiple factors. Also, the court will consider Smith’s age in its sentencin...