PENNSYLVANIA Judges in western district likely to use guidelines in sentencing

The guidelines factor in the defendant's record and the seriousness of the crime.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Federal judges of the western district of Pennsylvania are more likely than their counterparts to the east to adhere to sentencing guidelines, say the latest data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Attorney General John Ashcroft has ordered federal prosecutors nationwide to track sentences by U.S. District judges and to appeal cases in which a judge departs from guidelines set by the commission.
The commission report says judges on the federal bench in the western district fell within sentencing guidelines in 72.3 percent of cases in 2001, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported today.
That compares to 52.3 percent of sentences in the eastern district and 56.4 percent in the middle district of Pennsylvania that fell within the guideline ranges, the paper said.
The guidelines factor in the seriousness of the offense and a defendant's criminal record. A judge can impose sentences above or below the guidelines only if there is a factor the guidelines did not consider.
In April, Congress passed the PROTECT Act -- Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children -- which directed the commission to amend sentencing guidelines to cut the number of sentences that go below federal guidelines.
Change in standard
The new law may result in more appeals' being filed because the standard has changed, said Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, who serves on the advisory committee to the sentencing commission.
The previous standard was whether a judge had abused his or her discretion, but the new standard allows a complete review of the judge's findings, she said.
"It's a more favorable appeal standard," Buchanan said. "You can look at the case in its entirety."
Since the new law was enacted, prosecutors in western Pennsylvania appealed just one sentence that was lighter than the federal guidelines. Prosecutors did not file any such appeals in 2001 and 2002. There were no sentences tougher than the recommended guidelines in 2001 in the western District.
Taken as a whole in 2001, federal judges in the commonwealth fell slightly below the national average in following sentencing guidelines. Nationwide, 64 percent of federal sentences fell within the applicable range, while 60.3 percent of sentences in Pennsylvania did.
Civil rights groups and defense attorneys have criticized Ashcroft's decision to challenge the decisions of individual judges and also his order that federal prosecutors charge defendants with the most serious provable offense. The attorney general has also ordered prosecutors to seek the death penalty whenever it is applicable.
Defense attorney Gary Zimmerman calls the changes to policy "a conscious effort by the Justice Department to eliminate any judicial oversight that we've had since the time America was formed."
"They're trying to eliminate the judiciary from the criminal justice system," Zimmerman said. "They want to determine what crimes are charged and what the sentence will be."