Fernandez v. United States · ¶78

Congress set out to alleviate those problems with the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. See 98 Stat. 1987; see also S. Rep. No. 98–225, p. 65 (1983) (“The shameful disparity in criminal sentences is a major faw in the existing criminal justice system, and makes it clear that the system is ripe for reform”). The Act's most prominent reform was the creation of the U. S. Sentencing Commission, which Congress tasked with promulgating a new, determinate system of Sentencing Guidelines. See § 217(a), 98 Stat. 2017 (codified at 28 U. S. C. § 991). Initially, the Guidelines were “binding on the courts.” See Mistretta, 488 U. S., at 367–368. Judges had some discretion to depart from an applicable Guidelines range, but only after “find[ing] an aggravating or mitigating factor present that the Commission did not adequately consider.” Id., at 367.

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