If such a guideline were merely advisory, the court said, it would not be unconstitutional: so the sentencing rules can stay on that basis.The result of this tangled ruling?
At the core of the matter is the rapid demise of the federal sentencing rules -- a direct result of its own 5-to-4 ruling less than four weeks ago.
Mr Clarke said the sentencing rules were "complete nonsense".
Under sentencing rules, Mr. McAleese will be eligible for parole in 10 years, his lawyer said.
The prison term, imposed under 1957 sentencing rules, carries the possibility of parole after 20 years.
Harsh, inflexible sentencing rules inflict punishments that no reasonable judge would impose.
One reason they might do so is because harsh, mandatory-minimum sentencing rules can make such a choice rational.
A30 Sentencing Rules Revised Michigan is one of several states revising mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes.
Incarceration rates in the United States have multiplied over the last three decades, in part because of stiffer sentencing rules.
In 2010, Congress changed sentencing rules for crack-cocaine possession, establishing higher-quantity thresholds for mandatory jail time.
She has argued before the United States Supreme Court and is an authority on Federal sentencing rules.
