Sentencing Guidelines
I will substantiate that the federal enhanced sentencing guidelines as they presently exists present troubling Constitutional issues. Judges use to determine criminal sentences by considering the facts of each case, including the circumstances of the offense and the life history of the offender. After these careful observations were made, the judge would choose a sentence they considered fair. Federal judges had only one requirement, and that the sentence would have to be within a statutory range. This practice fell into disfavor because it permitted too much disparity between cases. In 1984 Congress addressed these concerns by creating the United States Sentencing Commission and made the public aware of the terms of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The task of the judge was to look up on grid the spot where the offense level intersected the criminal history and at that point, a statutory range would be applied. These guidelines consisted of worksheets to calculate a person's sentence by using gridlines that created levels to every crime. Co
The so-called enhancements do a Constitutional end run around the Sixth amendment by presenting evidence to judges that was never made available, nor challenged in open court. The Fourteenth amendment states, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall reduce the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; . This entire case was based on how federal judges could implement federal sentencing guidelines without taking away an individuals Constitutional rights. Although the task seemed simple, they found out the hard way that one size doesn't fit all. Washington, which has illustrated a disillusion with the federal sentencing guidelines. The High Court will soon hear a challenge to these enhancements on October 4, 2004; and we can only hope that they will affirm the Washington's decision. Before the grid, prosecutors charged people with crimes, and then judges sentenced people for those crimes only. This two tier system created a checks and balance that left neither party with more power than the other. Another particularly crucial problem is that the grid shifts the sentencing power from the judge to the prosecutor's office.
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Acceptance Essays
