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USSC Reports on Courts' Response
to Sentencing Guidelines Decision

Federal courts continue to punish more than 60 percent of convicted criminals within guidelines set by the U.S. Sentencing Commission despite a Supreme Court decision that made the guidelines advisory, recent statistics show.

On January 12, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled in the consolidated cases of Booker v. U.S. and Fanfan v. U.S. that the guidelines cannot be mandatory. Since the Booker decision, the Sentencing Commission has been collecting and analyzing case information on a real-time basis and releasing its data finding every few weeks. Its most recent data, dated September 15, 2005, provides analysis of the 36,660 cases submitted to the Commission between January 13 and September 1, 2005.

The latest release shows that 61.8 percent of all federal sentences in that time frame have been within the applicable guideline range. Sentences within the applicable guideline range totaled 69.4 percent in fiscal year 2003; 65 percent in FY 2002; and 64 percent in FY 2001.

The latest statistics indicate that most departures from the guidelines – 23.9 percent of all cases submitted – were sought by prosecutors for defendants who provided substantial assistance or for other reasons. By comparison, downward departures sought by prosecutors totaled 22.2 percent in FY 2003. The Commission currently is conducting an analysis of cases for FY 2004.

The statistics also indicate that the average prison sentence in the post-Booker period is lengthier than it was in FY 2003 in three major criminal categories. The average sentence for drug-trafficking convictions was 77 months in FY 2003; 83 months since Booker. The average for firearms crimes was 56 months in FY 2003; 58 months since Booker. The average for theft or fraud was 16 months in FY 2003; 20 months since Booker.

The post-Booker average prison sentence for immigration offenses was 28 months, the same as it was in FY 2003.

The September 15, 2005, statistics can be found on the Sentencing Commission's web site at http://www.ussc.gov/Blakely/PostBooker_091505.pdf.