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Decisions In Gall, Kimbrough Signal Enhanced Judicial Discretion in Sentencing

January 4, 2008
BNA White Collar Crime Report

On Nov. 1, 1987, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines became effective, sharply limiting the once virtually boundless discretion of a district court judge to impose a fair sentence. No longer could the judge exercise his or her traditional authority to impose sentence anywhere within a wide statutory range. Instead, judges had to follow the narrowly calibrated sentencing ranges dictated by the sentencing guidelines in all but a handful of cases. During the past decade, however, a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions starting with Apprendi v. New Jersey1 have led to a significant restoration of judicial authority at sentencing.