Rutherford v. United States · ¶72

To address those disparities, Congress passed the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. The Act created the United States Sentencing Commission, which Congress tasked with studying federal sentencing and promulgating the Sentencing Guidelines. 28 U. S. C. § 994(a). The Guidelines instruct judges on how to sentence defendants, including how to account for different factual circumstances like the defendant's background, the seriousness of the defendant's conduct, and more, within the context of the considerations set forth in 18 U. S. C. §3553(a). See 28 U. S. C. §§991(b), 994(f), 994(m).

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