And Joseph Adkins, Montgomery County Public Defender's Office Mr. Finci stated that the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys' Association is opposed to mandatory guidelines. Furthermore, the federal system shifts the balance of power to prosecutors because sentences are based on those charges presented by prosecutors to the grand jury. Even many federal judges oppose the mandatory federal guideline system. In the District of Columbia, defendants are unable to make intelligent decisions about issues like entering into plea agreements or going to trial because the courts have total discretion in imposing sentences. Defendants have no idea in advance what the range of sentence may be.
Defendants can make intelligent decisions about their course of action.
Judges are given the discretion to do what they are supposed to do - impose appropriate sentences. Judge McAuliffe asked whether members of the Association had spoken with any of the prosecutors or defense attorneys in those jurisdictions that function under a guided discretion sentencing guideline system. Mr. Finci responded that he had not, but that he would be concerned about the State's ability to appeal from a sentence. The Chairman asked the Association to communicate with people in those jurisdictions because they initially opposed the idea but now seem to see value in it. Mr. Adkins stated that he is concerned by the ballooning number of appeals in the federal system.