Federal Sentencing Guidelines

In recent years, the United States Sentencing Guidelines (USSG, or the Guidelines) for offenses involving drugs, immigration, fraud and theft, and firearms have consistently been applied more frequently at federal sentencings than any other primary offense guidelines. The Guidelines allow for consequential enhancements, many related to victims and criminal history. These Guidelines, especially the enhancements, dominated the precedential guideline decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 2013. This Article focuses on the recurring issues in those decisions.