Guidelines Compliance Project
In 1998, the Commission contracted with Drs. John Kramer and Jeffery Ulmer of Penn State University to undertake a study examining departures from the sentencing guidelines, particularly with respect to violent offenders. . Historically, departures below the guidelines have been high for a variety of violent offenses and the Commission was interested in gaining a better understanding of why judges depart so often in such cases. Data were analyzed using the Commission’s data sets from 1996-1999. In addition, judges in ten counties were interviewed to gain a better understanding of factors relevant to their sentencing.