The Federal Sentencing Guidelines

Before the 1980s federal judges had wide discretion, and parole boards decided when prisoners were released, producing very different sentences for similar crimes. The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 created the U.S. Sentencing Commission, abolished federal parole, and directed the commission to write guidelines, which took effect on November 1, 1987. A sentencing range is found on a grid that combines an offense level, from 1 to 43, based on the crime and factors such as loss amount, drug quantity, weapons, and role, with a criminal history category from I to VI.

The guidelines were mandatory until United States v. Booker, decided January 12, 2005, in which the Supreme Court held that binding guidelines that raise sentences based on facts found by judges violate the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial, and made them advisory. Judges must still calculate the range and explain any departure from it, and most sentences fall within or below it. Statutory mandatory minimums, such as for many drug and firearm offenses, still bind judges. Federal prisoners serve at least about 85 percent of their sentences.

The First Step Act of 2018 expanded the safety valve that lets some low-level drug offenders avoid mandatory minimums, made reduced crack cocaine penalties retroactive, and created credits for completing rehabilitation programs. The commission, which lacked a quorum from 2019 to 2022, amends the guidelines each year, and its 2025 amendments simplified the system by removing most departures in favor of judges' general discretion. Critics on the left say the guidelines and mandatory minimums still produce overly long sentences, while others say they keep sentences consistent and that advisory status gives judges too much leeway.