The Role of the Federal Probation Officer in the Guidelines Sentencing System

The presentence role of the federal probation officer has dramatically changed with the advent of the guidelines system of sentencing. The author argues that the officer's entry into deeper legal dimensions of the Court community represents an impediment to the process of sentencing, especially in terms of plea bargaining. He reviews the published literature and research on this issue, bringing to bear his experience in the federal criminal justice system.