Aggregate sentencing patterns reveal societal judgments about crimes.

Evidence

Sentencing in criminal cases illustrates this sort of cumulative policymaking. Until the imposition of sentencing guidelines (see Chapter 6), criminal law in the United States tended to define the minimum and maximum penalties for various offenses—for example, 5-10 years for armed robbery—but allowed the judge considerable discretion in sentencing within those guidelines. Although the sentence meted out to an individual offender does not establish policy, the overall pattern of sentencing in criminal cases does constitute important policymaking, because it reveals how the society regards various crimes. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2820