The Commission promulgates guidelines that judges consult when sentencing federal offenders. When the guidelines are amended, a subsequent
Guidelines Manual is published.
In this section, you will find the Commission’s comprehensive archive of yearly amendments and Guidelines Manuals dating back to 1987.
The Commission collects, analyzes, and disseminates a broad array of information on federal crime and sentencing practices.
In this section, you will find a comprehensive collection of research and data reports published on sentencing issues and other areas of federal crime.
The Commission establishes sentencing policies and practices for the federal courts. Each year, the Commission reviews and refines these policies in light of congressional action, decisions from courts of appeals, sentencing-related research, and input from the criminal justice community.
In this section, you can follow the Commission’s work through the amendment cycle as priorities are set, research is performed, testimony is heard, and amendments are adopted.
The Commission serves as an information resource for Congress, the executive branch, the courts, criminal justice practitioners, the academic community, and the public.
In this section, you will find materials on guideline application, background information on some of the Commission’s policy decisions, and summaries of sentencing-related case law.
In Booker, the Supreme Court struck down two statutory provisions in the Sentencing Reform Act that made the guidelines mandatory, and also defined the standard of review for sentences on appeal.
– The Commission submitted to Congress its report assessing the continuing impact of United States v. Booker on the federal sentencing system and reiterating statutory changes to strengthen the guideline system.
(December 2012) This report assesses the continuing impact on the federal sentencing system of the Supreme Court's 2005 opinion in United States v. Booker , which rendered the sentencing guidelines advisory.
A report updating the Commission's data analysis concerning demographic differences in federal sentencing practices set forth in Chapter 5 of the Commission's 2006 Final Report on the Impact of United States v. Booker on Federal Sentencing . (March 2010)
Congressional Reports and Testimony Congressional Reports Report on the Continuing Impact of United States v. Booker on Federal Sentencing (December 2012). This report assesses the continuing impact of United States v. Booker on the federal sentencing system. Part A of the report discusses the history of the federal sentencing guidelines and the sentencing process after Booker. It also provides...
Federal Register Notice of Proposed 2016 Priorities and Request for Public Comment