Sentencing guidelines: A quantitative comparison of sentencing policies in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Washington

Abstract

During the past decade, several states established special commissions to develop sentencing guidelines. This article employs a simulation methodology to quantify and compare the sentencing recommendations in the first three states that promulgated guidelines. The article explores how the development of these guidelines was influenced by differences in the purposes of the sentencing reforms, in the sentencing philosophies adopted by the commissions, and in the statutory constraints placed on the commissions. Variations in these factors led to measurable differences in the degree of judicial discretion permitted by the guideline and in the overall severity of the guideline recommendations.