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Commission debate opens over departure rules and how criminal history should inform sentences
Summary
Commissioners split over whether to change longstanding court precedent that limits the use of offender‑level factors in durational departures. A steering committee proposed clarifying the commission’s intent; some members urged more research and caution because the change could conflict with 40 years of appellate precedent.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A central policy debate at the Sentencing Guidelines Commission’s Aug. 11 meeting focused on whether the commission should revise its guidance on departure grounds to allow greater use of offender‑level (individual) factors in durational departures.
For four decades Minnesota appellate cases have generally distinguished the grounds appropriate for dispositional departures (changing the type of disposition, e.g., prison to probation) and durational departures (changing the length of a sentence). Historically, courts and precedent have limited durational departures to circumstances tied to the offense rather than to characteristics of the offender.
The steering committee placed the question before the commission with proposed language that would remove that formal distinction and allow either set of characteristics to be considered,…
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