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Sentencing Guidelines Educational Materials

Basic Guideline Application

An Overview of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (.PDF)

Article: "Tips for Beginning Practitioners". Donald A. Purdy and Gustavo A. Gelpi (.PDF)

Article: "An Introduction to Federal Guideline Sentencing" Eighth Edition, Lucien Campbell and Henry J. Bemporad, Editors. (March 2004) (.PDF)

Robbery Exercise and Completed Worksheets - A brief scenario and completed worksheets illustrate basic application of the sentencing guidelines. (.PDF)

Instructional Videos are available on short-term loan from the Commission's Office of Education and Sentencing Practice. See descriptions in videotapes section.

Quick Reference Materials

Highlights of Key Points - Amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. (.PDF) 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |2003 (Jan) | 2003 (Oct)

Selected Sentencing Statutory Provisions (February 2003)

2003 Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual - Full Text

2003 Sentencing Table (PDF)

2002 Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual - Full Text

2002 Sentencing Table (PDF)

Supplement to the 2002 Guidelines Manual. (January 2003)

Advanced Training Materials

CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL APPLICATION PRINCIPLES

RELEVANT CONDUCT

Article: "Relevant Comments on Relevant Conduct" , Frances H. Pratt, Esq. (March 2002) (.PDF)

CHAPTER TWO - OFFENSE CONDUCT

CALCULATION OF "LOSS"

Loss Issues (May 2000) (.PDF)

Article: "Comparison of the New Calculation of Economic 'Loss' With That of Restitution." by Cathy Goodwin. (May 2002) (.PDF)

Quick Quiz on Comparison of Economic "Loss" and Restitution (used in conjunction with above article). (May 2002)

FIREARMS

Firearms: Selected Federal Statutes and Sentencing Guideline Provisions (October 6, 1998). The purpose of this document is to provide a general overview of key sentencing issues and case law arising from federal firearms statutes and various guideline provisions on firearm enhancements. (.PDF)

CULTURAL HERITAGE

Annotated Cultural Heritage Guideline for Training and Reference Purposes (April 2003) (.PDF)

CHAPTER THREE - ADJUSTMENTS

Selected Chapter Three Adjustments 2003 (.PDF) Chapter Three of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual addresses a variety of different upward and downward adjustments that may apply to a defendant’s offense level determination.

MULTIPLE COUNTS

Multiple Counts Checklist - An aid to applying Chapter Three, Part D of the guidelines.

Multiple Counts Quiz (.PDF)- Questions and answers about how to apply the Chapter Three grouping rules.

CHAPTER FOUR - CRIMINAL HISTORY AND CRIMINAL LIVELIHOOD

Criminal History Checklist, by Tom Hutchison (March 2002)(.PDF)

Videotape Available. See descriptions in videotapes section.

CHAPTER FIVE - DETERMINING THE SENTENCE

"SAFETY VALVE" (Limitation on Applicability of Statutory Minimum Sentences in Certain Cases)

Selected Appellate Case Law on §5C1.2 (Safety Valve) - (October 10, 2000)

Most Frequently Asked Questions Regarding §5C1.2

RESTITUTION

Reference Outline: "Restitution in Federal Criminal Cases" by Cathy Goodwin. This article includes a brief overview of the history of restitution, the 5-steps in determining restitution, and recent issues in litigation regarding restitution. (July 2001)

Article: "Imposition and Enforcement of Restitution" by Cathy Goodwin. From Federal Probation, volume 64, number 1, June 2000, pp. 62-72. This article discusses legal issues on imposing restitution, including the determination of ability to pay and assets for imposing payment, as well as issues on enforcing restitution orders during supervision and at revocation based on non-payment.(June 2000)(.PDF)

Article: "Update on Selected Restitution Issues" by Cathy Goodwin. This article provides expanded guidance and updated case law on the principles discussed in two previous Federal Probation articles on restitution: 1) the December 1998 article that introduced the 5-step analysis to determining victims and harms for restitution, and 2) the June 2000 article on the imposition and enforcement of restitution. (June 2001)

Article: "The Imposition of Restitution in Federal Criminal Cases," by Cathy Goodwin. From Federal Probation, volume 62, number 2, December 1998, pages 95-108.

Article: "Comparison of the New Calculation of Economic 'Loss' With That of Restitution." by Cathy Goodwin. (May 2002) (.PDF)

Quick Quiz on Comparison of Economic "Loss" and Restitution This quiz is used in conjunction with above article "Comparison of the New Calculation of Economic "Loss" with that of Restitution." (May 2002)

Restitution Examples and Analysis prepared by Cathy Goodwin and distributed at the Eleventh Annual National Seminar on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (May 2002)

Videotape Available. See descriptions in videotapes section.

DEPARTURES

Case Law on Departures (April 2003) (.PDF) - A review and analysis of appellate and district court departure decisions.

Videotape Available. See descriptions in videotapes section.

CHAPTER SEVEN - VIOLATIONS OF PROBATION AND SUPERVISED RELEASE

Probation and Supervised Release Violations (2002) - Included in this document is a discussion of legal issues involving application of Chapter Seven of the sentencing guidelines.(.PDF)

Article: "Revocation of Probation and Supervised Release." Frances Pratt (March 2002) (.PDF)

Revocation Tables

CHAPTER EIGHT - SENTENCING OF ORGANIZATIONS

Organizational Guidelines and Compliance

Organizational Sentencing Guidelines Bibliography. (PDF)


If you have questions relating to the availability of any of the training documents listed, please fee free to contact the USSC Training Coordinator at (202)502-4564.

 

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