Guidelines Educational Materials

Annual National Seminar on the Sentencing Guidelines

Materials from the Annual National Seminar on the Sentencing Guidelines

Basic Guideline Application

Robbery Exercise and Completed Worksheets - A brief scenario and completed worksheets illustrate basic application of the sentencing guidelines.

Quick Reference Materials

Sentencing Table

Advanced Training Materials

CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL APPLICATION PRINCIPLES
RELEVANT CONDUCT
RETROACTIVITY

Crack Retroactivity Primer (April 2012)

Most Frequently Asked Questions on the 2011 Retroactive Crack Cocaine Guideline Amendment. This document provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about the Commission's decision to give retroactive effect to the proposed permanent guideline amendment implementing the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. (August 2011)

2008 CLC/USSC Joint Memorandum to the Federal Judiciary from the respective Chairs of the Criminal Law Committee of the Judicial Conference and the United States Sentencing Commission Regarding Order Form (AO 247) for Use in Sentencing Modifications of Cocaine Base ("Crack Cocaine") Offenses, Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2).

CHAPTER TWO - OFFENSE CONDUCT

     ECONOMIC CRIMES

Loss Primer (§2B1.1(b)(1)) (March 2012)

Victim Primer (§2B1.1(b)(2)) (March 2012)

      DRUGS

Drug Primer (March 2012)

     FIREARMS

Firearms Primer (March 2012)

     IMMIGRATION

Immigration Primer (April 2012)

     SEX OFFENSES

Sex Offense Primer: Offenses Involving Commercial Sex Acts and Sexual Exploitation of Minors (March 2012)

Sex Offense Primer: Sexual Abuse and Failure to Register Offenses (March 2012)

CHAPTER THREE - ADJUSTMENTS
     MULTIPLE COUNTS

Aggravating and Mitigating Role Adjustments Primer §§ 3B1.1 & 3B1.2 (April 2012)

Multiple Counts Checklist - An aid to applying Chapter Three, Part D of the Guidelines

CHAPTER FOUR - CRIMINAL HISTORY AND CRIMINAL LIVELIHOOD

Criminal History Primer (April 2012)

CHAPTER FIVE - DETERMINING THE SENTENCE
     RESTITUTION

Reference Outline: "Restitution in Federal Criminal Cases" by Cathy Goodwin. This article includes a brief overview of the history of restitution, the 5-steps in determining restitution, and recent issues in litigation regarding restitution. (July 2001)

Article: "Imposition and Enforcement of Restitution" by Cathy Goodwin. From Federal Probation, volume 64, number 1, June 2000, pp. 62-72. This article discusses legal issues on imposing restitution, including the determination of ability to pay and assets for imposing payment, as well as issues on enforcing restitution orders during supervision and at revocation based on non-payment.(June 2000)

Article: "Update on Selected Restitution Issues" by Cathy Goodwin. This article provides expanded guidance and updated case law on the principles discussed in two previous Federal Probation articles on restitution: 1) the December 1998 article that introduced the 5-step analysis to determining victims and harms for restitution, and 2) the June 2000 article on the imposition and enforcement of restitution. (June 2001)

Article: "The Imposition of Restitution in Federal Criminal Cases," by Cathy Goodwin. From Federal Probation, volume 62, number 2, December 1998, pages 95-108.

Article: "Comparison of the New Calculation of Economic 'Loss' With That of Restitution." by Cathy Goodwin. (May 2002)

Quick Quiz on Comparison of Economic "Loss" and Restitution. This quiz is used in conjunction with above article "Comparison of the New Calculation of Economic "Loss" with that of Restitution." (May 2002)

Restitution Examples and Analysis prepared by Cathy Goodwin and distributed at the Eleventh Annual National Seminar on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (May 2002)

     DEPARTURES

Departure and Variance Primer (March 2012)

Case Annotations and Resources: Military Service; USSG §5H1.11 Departures and Booker Variances. This document contains case annotations to federal judicial opinions that involve USSG §5H1.11 departures and Booker variances related to a defendant's military service. It includes an introduction discussing how courts have recognized military service and mental health issues relating to combat service, as well as an appendix providing links to internet sites. (January 2012)

CHAPTER SEVEN - VIOLATIONS OF PROBATION AND SUPERVISED RELEASE

Article: "Revocation of Probation and Supervised Release." Frances Pratt (October 2004)

Revocation Tables

CHAPTER EIGHT - SENTENCING OF ORGANIZATIONS

Organizational Guidelines and Compliance

Organizational Guidelines Fine Primer (March 2012)