What are the goals of the Sentencing Guidelines?
• To Assure Public Safety: The violent offenders who pose a danger to the community are more likely to be incarcerated, and for longer periods of time. • To Promote Uniformity in Sentencing: Offenders who are convicted of similar crimes and who have similar criminal records are to be similarly sentenced. • To Promote Proportionality in Sentencing: The guidelines support a “just deserts” philosophy by recommending to the sentencing judge a proportionally more severe sentence based first, on the severity of the conviction offense and second, on the offender’s criminal history. • To Provide Truth and Certainty in Sentencing: The period of time to be served in prison is pronounced by the judge at sentencing and that time is fixed. Those sentenced to prison will serve at least two-thirds of their executed sentences in prison. • To Coordinate Sentencing Practices with Correctional Resources: To assure available resources, the guidelines recommend who should be imprisoned and for how long. Th
