Make Probation a Real Option at Sentencing
April 1, 2011
Federal Sentencing Reporter, Vol. 23, No.4, pp. 257-260, University of California Press
Types : Bylined Articles
My advice to the Commission is to amend the Guidelines to establish probation as a distinct type of sentence with independent value, rather than as merely a lenient option to be used only in extraordinary cases. In order to accomplish this goal, the Commission should reexamine the applicable statutes and legislative history that discuss probation and then, with these original documents as guidance, draft a new Guidelines chapter that provides the district courts with meaningful assistance on the question of when to impose probation. Also, the Sentencing Table should be amended to ensure that probation, not zero months of imprisonment, is often available as a sentencing option.