US sentence guidelines are voluntary

The row over sentencing seems to have been settled in the US with a Supreme Court ruling that voided mandatory federal sentencing guidelines, making them voluntary and which said US judges could consult them before imposing penalties.

The Washington Times reports the court said juries, not judges, must determine any facts used to set the length of prison sentences. More than 64 000 people are sentenced each year under the guidelines, and defence lawyers predicted a deluge of appeals from those who say they were wrongly sentenced. The ruling did not scrap the sentencing laws altogether, though, it just made them voluntary. Reacting, Christopher Wray, assistant Attorney-General for the Justice Department\'s Criminal Division, said the guidelines ensured that similar defendants who commit similar crimes receive similar sentences. Because the guidelines are now advisory, the risk increases that sentences across the country will become wildly inconsistent. Full report in The Washington Times Full judgment