Fear of Judging: Sentencing Guidelines in the Federal Courts (Chicago Series on Sexuality, History)

Stith, Kate; Cabranes, Jose A.

ISBN 10: 0226774864 / ISBN 13: 9780226774862

Published by University of Chicago Press, 1998

Seller Inventory # ABLIING23Feb2215580063067

Synopsis:

For two centuries, federal judges exercised wide discretion in criminal sentencing. This changed in 1987, when a hopelessly complex bureaucratic apparatus was imposed on the federal courts. Though termed Sentencing "Guidelines," the new sentencing rules are mandatory. Reformers hoped that the Sentencing Guidelines would address inequities in sentencing. The Guidelines have failed to achieve this goal, according to Kate Stith and José Cabranes, and they have sacrificed comprehensibility and common sense.

Fear of Judging is the first full-scale history, analysis, and critique of the new sentencing regime. The authors show that the present system has burdened the courts, dehumanized the sentencing process, and, by repressing judicial discretion, eroded the constitutional balance of powers. Eschewing ideological or politically oriented critiques of the Guidelines and offering alternatives to the current system, Stith and Cabranes defend a vision of justice that requires judges to perform what has traditionally been considered their central task—exercising judgment.

About the Author: Kate Stith is Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law at Yale Law School.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Fear of Judging: Sentencing Guidelines in ...
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication Date: 1998
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: New