Column misunderstands limited purpose of sentencing tool

John Hanusz's guest column of November 23 ("Selective statistical analysis may promote longer federal sentences") concerning the new Judiciary Sentencing INformation (JSIN) tool provided by the U.S. Sentencing Commission highlights the danger of misunderstanding the limited nature and purpose of this proffered information. The Commission has always responded to special data requests from federal judges for pending sentencings. Almost always these requests are from judges who have calculated the applicable guideline range and are now considering the appropriate length of imprisonment to impose.

Very rarely does a judge contemplating a probationary sentence or the extent of a substantial assistance departure request data from the Commission. JSIN, therefore, is designed to provide the data the heartland of judges historically has found most helpful: how often defendants are sentenced within, above, and below the guideline range; how often defendants are sentenced to probation or a term of imprisonment; and, for those defendants who have received a sentence of imprisonment, the average and median length of imprisonment imposed. Thus, JSIN provides the average and median terms of imprisonment, not the average length of all sentences.

Mr. Hanusz's suggestion of additional variables loses sight of the purposes of the Sentencing Reform Act. Adding variables such as district, circuit, race, and gender would exacerbate the very geographic and demographic disparities the Sentencing Reform Act sought to eliminate. Other variables suggested by Mr. Hanusz would also add undue complexity to the tool with little apparent benefit to judges at sentencing. Finally, JSIN is not intended to supplant the guidelines as the single essential starting point in sentencing; nor is it a substitute for the sound exercise of a judge's discretion. It is merely a logical -- and now transparent -- extension of a longstanding service to federal judges. 

-- Charles Breyer

Senior Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of California

Acting Chairman, U.S. Sentencing Commission