Other Federal Sentencing Notes

Other Sentencing.net articles are the notes that do not belong in a single topic folder. This page lists them, newest first. Right now that list is one piece: a Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of how many people had contact with police in 2018. It is a federal research note, not a guideline essay, which is why it sits here instead of under sentencing or legislation.

If you came looking for how a federal judge sets a prison term, start with the guides below. They are the working map of this site. The survey note is still useful background on how often people meet police, but it does not tell you the range in a case.

How the federal sentencing guidelines apply

In a federal case, the judge starts with the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The Guidelines Manual is written by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Since November 1, 2025, the judge uses two steps, set out in USSG §1B1.1.

First, the judge calculates the guideline range. That number comes from the offense level and the criminal history category. Our plain-language guide to how the federal sentencing guidelines work walks through that math.

Second, the judge chooses a sentence after weighing the factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). The statute says the sentence must be sufficient, but not greater than necessary. Those factors include the nature of the offense, the history of the person being sentenced, and the need to avoid unwarranted differences between similar cases. We explain them on the § 3553(a) page.

The court uses the Manual in effect on the day of sentencing, unless that Manual would raise the range compared with the one in effect when the offense was committed. That limit comes from USSG §1B1.11 and from Peugh v. United States, 569 U.S. 530 (2013). A set of Commission amendments also took effect November 1, 2026, as scheduled. Our note on the 2026 amendments covers the fraud-loss and multiple-count pieces.

Departures and variances

A departure used to be a sentence outside the range for a reason the Manual itself listed. Amendment 836 removed nearly all of those rules on November 1, 2025. A sentence above or below the range is now a variance under § 3553(a).

One below-range provision stayed. If the government files a motion saying the person gave substantial help, the judge may go below the range under USSG §5K1.1. The Manual no longer calls that a departure. An early-disposition reduction moved to §3F1.1 as an offense-level decrease of up to 4 levels, and it also requires a government motion.

Facts that used to support a departure, such as health, family duties, or military service, can still be argued. They are argued as reasons for a variance. The deleted departure text is kept for reference in Appendix B, Part III of the 2026 Manual. The longer explanation is our page on departures and variances, and the news note is guidelines drop departures.

The role of the presentence report

Before the hearing, a probation officer writes a presentence report, often called the PSR. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32 says what it must contain: the guideline calculation, criminal history, the person's history and characteristics, finances, victim impact when it applies, and information about restitution and forfeiture.

The report goes to the defense, the government, and the court at least 35 days before sentencing, unless that time is waived. Written objections are due within 14 days after the report is received. At least 7 days before sentencing, the officer sends the court a final report and an addendum of unresolved objections. The judge may accept undisputed facts as findings and must rule on disputes that matter, or say why a ruling is unnecessary. Those rulings can follow a person into Bureau of Prisons custody, because Rule 32(i)(3)(C) says they are attached to the copy of the report made available to the Bureau.

Read the objections line by line. A drug weight, a loss figure, or a criminal-history point that nobody challenges can set the range for years. Our guide to the presentence report covers the deadlines and how objections work.

After the sentence

A federal sentence is hard to change, but the paths are written down. Which one fits depends on the judgment, the docket, and the dates.

An appeal of the sentence is governed by 18 U.S.C. § 3742. The notice of appeal in a criminal case is due within 14 days after the judgment is entered, under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b). A plea agreement may also contain an appeal waiver. Our appeals articles collect cases on waivers, guilty pleas, and review of the sentence.

A motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 asks the sentencing court to vacate, set aside, or correct the sentence. The usual deadline is one year from the date the conviction becomes final, with later starts in the situations § 2255(f) lists. It is not a second sentencing hearing. It is a collateral attack, and the grounds are limited.

A guideline amendment lowers an existing sentence only when the Commission makes it retroactive and lists it in USSG §1B1.10(d). The motion is 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). In August 2025 the Commission declined to make the drug mitigating-role cap retroactive. That vote is explained in our news post on the cap.

Compassionate release is a different motion. Under § 3582(c)(1)(A), the sentencing judge may reduce a term for extraordinary and compelling reasons, after the person asks the warden and either exhausts the Bureau's process or waits 30 days from the warden's receipt of the request. The Commission's policy statement, USSG §1B1.13, applies to motions people file themselves. Our page on how a final sentence can be reduced and the guide to sentence reductions separate these paths so they are not mixed together.

Preparing for the sentencing hearing

The hearing is the day the judge imposes the sentence. Rule 32(i) requires the court to confirm that the defendant and counsel have read and discussed the presentence report, to rule on disputed facts that affect the sentence, and to let the defendant speak. That chance to speak is called allocution. Our posts on what happens at a federal sentencing hearing and on allocution describe the order of the day.

Preparation is concrete. Collect the records that show the life of the person being sentenced: medical records, job history, program certificates, and letters that stick to facts. Put the guideline disputes in writing before the hearing, on the Rule 32 clock, not for the first time at the podium. If a mandatory minimum applies, check whether a statutory safety valve or a government motion is actually available. Do not assume a departure motion still exists. For a sentencing on or after November 1, 2025, the request outside the range is a variance under § 3553(a).

This page will grow only when a note truly does not fit a topic. For the doctrine, use the sentencing articles, the legislation archive, and the early-release guide. The pages here are general information about federal cases, not advice for one docket.