Federal District Courts Taking Increasing Advantage of Sentencing Discretion in Wake of U.S. v. Booker; 41.2% of Sentences Nationwide in 2009 Were Bel

The New Jersey Law Journal contains an article concerning the continuing struggles of federal district courts to come to terms with the discretion which the Supreme Court granted to them in sentencing in U.S. v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005). The article notes that the courts continue to follow the Guidelines, but that there has been a trend away from strict adherence to the Guidelines.

Statistics show that in 2009, slightly more than one half--56.8 percent--of federal sentences were within the sentencing ranges recommended by the Guidelines--down from 61.7 percent in 2006. However, the percentage of sentences within the recommended Guidelines range varies from district to district--from a low of 27.8 percent for the District of Arizona and 30.8 percent for the District of Vermont to a high of 80.7 percent for the Southern District of Mississippi and 92.3 percent for the District for the Northern Mariana Islands. Nationwide, courts varied downward from the recommended Guidelines ranges in 41.2 percent of cases. Statistics also show that courts were most likely to adhere to advisory Guidelines ranges in drug and burglary cases, and least likely in kidnapping or bribery cases.

The article quotes Professor Douglas Berman of Ohio State University and the author of the influential Sentencing Law and Policy blog, who notes that the Supreme Court has consistently upheld district judges' exercise of their post-Booker sentencing discretion