Sentencing guidelines define a recommended sentencing range for a criminal defendant, based upon characteristics of the defendant and of the criminal charge. Depending upon the jurisdiction, sentencing guidelines may be nonbinding, or their application may be mandatory for the criminal offenses that they cover.
By contrast,
mandatory sentencing
Mandatory sentencing requires that people convicted of certain crimes serve a predefined term of imprisonment, removing the discretion of judges to take issues such as extenuating circumstances and a person's likelihood of rehabilitation into co ...
involves the imposition of legal parameters for criminal sentences, typically mandatory minimum terms of
imprisonment
Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...
.
Worldwide
United States
In the
United States federal courts
The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution and Law of the United States, laws of the fed ...
, the
Federal Sentencing Guidelines have long been applied to criminal sentencings.
State courts use their own sentencing guidelines.
The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are non-binding
independent agency recommendations that inform
sentencing
In criminal law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences f ...
in law.
Courts consider these advisory
forms, which contain
maximum and minimum sentences, before deciding a defendant's sentence.
"The
Sentencing Guidelines enumerate
aggravating and
mitigating circumstances, assign scores based on a defendant's
criminal record and based on the seriousness of the
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
, and specify a range of
punishment
Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beh ...
s for each crime."
State sentencing guidelines vary significantly in their complexity, and whether they are non-binding or mandatory in their application.
United Kingdom
In England and Wales, the
Sentencing Council (formerly the
Sentencing Guidelines Council) sets sentencing guidelines, and in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
the
Scottish Sentencing Council
The Scottish Sentencing Council () is an Public bodies of the Scottish Government, advisory non-departmental public body in Scotland that produces sentencing guidelines for use in the High Court of Justiciary, sheriff courts and justice of th ...
holds this responsibility.
Canada
Canada does not possess sentencing guidelines or a sentencing commission.
See also
*
Aggravated felony
*
Imprisonment
Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...
References
Sentencing (law)
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