Pubdate: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT) Copyright: 2005 The Salt Lake Tribune Contact: http://www.sltrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383 Author: Pamela Manson, The Salt Lake Tribune Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/federal+sentencing JUDGE WON'T SCRAP FEDERAL STANDARDS ON SENTENCING A day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled judges are no longer required to follow federal sentencing guidelines, a jurist in Salt Lake City announced he will give "heavy weight" to the standards in determining punishment. At a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell said he will deviate from the range suggested in the guidelines only in unusual cases. He then sentenced James Joseph Wilson, who had pleaded guilty to a 2003 armed robbery of a credit union, to 15 1/2 years behind bars, the low end of the range. Cassell said in a written opinion that the guidelines "are the only way to create consistent sentencing as they are the only uniform standard available to guide the hundreds of district judges around the country." Under the guidelines, which went into effect in 1987, a sentencing range is established by the type of offense and the defendant's criminal record. The possible punishment is increased or decreased based on aggravating factors, such as extreme cruelty, and mitigating circumstances, such as remorse. Judges were required to hand down tougher punishment once they agreed aggravating factors existed. Critics claimed this procedure was unconstitutional because longer sentences were based on facts never proved at trial. Cassell had declared the guidelines unconstitutional in July after an earlier Supreme Court decision had put their validity in doubt. Since then, he had been handing down two sentences - one using the guidelines and an alternative - in case the high court eventually upheld the system. In most cases, the sentences were identical. His colleagues on the bench in Utah and federal judges around the nation took a variety of approaches. Some continued to hand down sentences within guideline ranges, while others gave jurors the responsibility of determining whether any factors existed that would affect the amount of punishment. On Thursday, Cassell said his approach of hewing to the guidelines in most cases could be the best way to implement congressional goals of uniformity and just punishment. He added federal lawmakers likely will be watching how judges react to the Supreme Court ruling when deciding whether to pass new sentencing laws. "If that discretion is exercised responsibly, Congress may be inclined to give judges greater flexibility under a new sentencing system," Cassell wrote. "On the other hand, if that discretion is abused by sentences that thwart congressional objectives, Congress has ample power to respond with mandatory minimum sentences and the like." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake