Researchers suggest ways to improve US sentencing guidelines

The U.S.

Sentencing Guidelines play a pivotal role in some of the federal government's most consequential drug policy decisions.

Two recurring themes have been the balancing—or lack of balancing—between drug weight and the defendant's role in the drug distribution enterprise, and the basis for determining which relative weights of different drugs should be treated similarly.

In a new article, researchers suggest approaches to these questions that offer constructive steps without jettisoning the overall approach. ...