Sentencing Reform Act Law and Legal Definition
The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 is the U.S. federal statute that totally restructured the system of sentencing of the federal defendants.
The main initiative of the act was the abolition of federal parole and establishment of the United States Sentencing Commission. The purposes of the United States Sentencing Commission are to:
1. establish sentencing policies and practices for the Federal criminal justice system that assure the meeting of the purposes of sentencing;
2. provide certainty and fairness in meeting the purposes of sentencing, avoiding unwarranted sentencing disparities among defendants with similar records that have been found guilty of similar criminal conduct; and
3. reflect, to the extent practicable, advancement in knowledge of human behavior as it relates to the criminal justice process.
