Revising Federal Sentencing Policy: Some Consequences of Expanding Eligibility for Alternative Sanctions

Although the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 advocated the use of “least restrictive alternatives,” the U.S. Sentencing Commission has devised guidelines that authorize prison for all felony convictions. Nonincarcerative sentences are available for low-level offenders, but research has shown that the use of probation and other alternative sanctions has declined since the full-scale adoption of the guidelines in 1989. Applying criteria for imposing sentences of imprisonment adopted by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency to U.S. Sentencing Commission data from 1992 and 1993, we show that a large number of cases in the federal caseload that were considered ineligible for nonincarcerative sanctions may merit “a second look” and be considered for alternative sentences.