Opinion ID: 519520
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The availability of probation

Text: 12 A sentencing judge who follows the guidelines will grant probation in only rare circumstances. The guidelines permit straight probation, probation which does not follow a prison or jail term, only when the minimum jail term authorized by the guidelines is zero months. Probation is also authorized when the minimum term of the applicable sentence range is one to six months. In such situations the minimum jail term must be served prior to probation. Even assuming district courts will at times validly depart from the guidelines, it is unlikely that probation will often be used. This is true despite the fact that the federal statute authorizing probation, which was part of the same act that established the Sentencing Commission, prohibits probation only for defendants who have been convicted of Class A or B felonies, or are otherwise imprisoned, or unless the governing statute precludes probation. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3561. 13 The appellants argue that the Sentencing Commission went well beyond its statutory mandate in eliminating probation and thus offended due process. The statutory and constitutional arguments collide: if the Commission had authority to decrease the availability of probation as a sentencing option, there is no contravention of due process. The statute mandates that the Commission shall insure that the guidelines reflect the appropriateness of imposing a sentence other than imprisonment in cases in which the defendant is a first offender who has not been convicted of a crime of violence or an otherwise serious offense.... 28 U.S.C. Sec. 994(j). This provision grants wide discretion to the Commission to determine the appropriateness of probation. The legislative history of this provision substantiates the breadth of this grant: 14 [Section 3561, discussed above] creates no presumption for or against probation. The Committee believes that the sentencing guidelines can more adequately delineate those cases in which a term of probation is preferable to a term of imprisonment, or vice versa, as a means of achieving the purposes of sentencing.... 15 S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 2nd Sess. 90, reprinted in 1984 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 3182, 3273. The Commission acted well within the broad authority granted it by a Congress which was cognizant of the statute authorizing probation in all but certain felony cases. There is no conflict in the statutory scheme and no due process violation. 16