# Federal Sentencing Guidelines The **Federal Sentencing Guidelines** are the grid promulgated by the [[United States Sentencing Commission]] under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 that produces a recommended sentencing range from two inputs: an **offense level** built up from a base level plus enhancements, and a **criminal history category**. The two axes meet on a 43-by-6 table, and the cell they meet in is where nearly every federal sentencing conversation starts. The Guidelines were mandatory from 1987 until *United States v. Booker* (2005) made them **advisory**. Advisory has not meant optional: a sentencing judge must still calculate the range correctly, must treat it as the starting point, and must explain any variance well enough to survive reasonableness review. The practical consequence is that the enhancements — which are decided by the judge under a preponderance standard on conduct the jury never passed on, including acquitted conduct — do most of the work of setting the sentence, while the charge the defendant actually pleaded to does less than a lay reader would expect. See [[How a Federal Prosecution Begins and Ends]] for where the Guidelines enter the pipeline. > [!note] Stub > Phase 1 spine stub. Expand: the Sentencing Reform Act, *Mistretta*, *Booker* and *Gall*, relevant conduct and acquitted conduct, the § 3553(a) factors, the 5K1.1 cooperation departure, the amendment cycle and the quorum problem, and retroactivity. ## See also - [[How a Federal Prosecution Begins and Ends]] - [[United States Sentencing Commission]] - [[Trial Penalty]] - [[Judiciary Hub]]