Word: federales
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Judges have traditionally enjoyed such leeway in meting out jail terms that one prisoner could serve many times as long as another for a similar crime. Concerned about unfair -- and often overly lenient -- sentences, Congress in 1984 created the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which issued a manual that greatly restricts judges...
Defense lawyers quickly launched a legal assault against the new system. The result was chaos, with 158 federal judges declaring the arrangement unconstitutional and 116 ruling it to be proper. No one could tell what penalties would be imposed or whether they would stick. Moving briskly to end the confusion...
"This is one of the most important decisions handed down by the court in this decade," said Federal Appeals Judge William Wilkins Jr. of South Carolina, the commission's chairman. The result, he said, will be "more uniform, fair and truthful sentences." The impact will reach far beyond the several...
Many lawyers contend that the rules may sharply limit plea bargaining after indictments, thus crowding court calendars. The crunch behind bars is expected to get worse. The 50,000 inmates jamming federal penitentiaries are already 60% more than capacity. "We're going to see dramatic increases in prison terms and...
The federal manual features a chart that puts infractions into 43 categories and lists corresponding penalties. The sentence is increased according to such factors as use of a weapon, the amount of money involved and prior criminal record. A judge can depart from the recommended numbers in unusual circumstances but...