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Supreme Court's Sentencing Guidelines Decision

By Larry D. Soderquist
January 26, 2005

On January 12, the Supreme Court, in United States v. Booker, found portions of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines unconstitutional. For the last few years, corporate officers and directors have been forced to take a personal interest in criminal justice and in the Sentencing Guidelines. This has been especially true after the United States Sentencing Commission raised the guideline's penalties for white-collar crime in response to the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). To understand the importance of the Booker case, it is necessary to know how sentencing worked before and under the guidelines.

Before the Guidelines

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