About PlainSentencing
PlainSentencing makes federal criminal sentencing data accessible to researchers, journalists, attorneys, defendants, and the general public. We aggregate and present 10 years of data from the United States Sentencing Commission — covering over 660,000 federal sentencing records — in a format that anyone can understand.
Our Data
All data comes directly from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC). The USSC is an independent agency of the judicial branch that sets federal sentencing policy and collects data on every federal offender sentenced in U.S. district courts. The USSC publishes public-use datafiles annually — we aggregate FY2015 through FY2024.
- District profiles: 90 federal judicial districts with sentencing statistics
- Offense types: 45 offense categories tracked in USSC guidelines
- Guideline compliance: Within, above, below guidelines, and Booker variances
- Case volumes and trends: Annual case counts and 10-year trend analysis
- Disparity scores: District deviation from national averages by offense type
Methodology
We download USSC annual datafiles (fixed-width SPSS format for FY2015–FY2023, CSV for FY2024) and process them through a Python ETL pipeline. Key processing steps:
- Extract district, offense guideline, sentence length, guideline range, departure type, plea type, and demographic variables
- Aggregate by district and fiscal year to compute case counts, averages, and guideline compliance rates
- Calculate disparity scores: average percentage difference vs. national average for the same offense types in each district and year
- Apply no modifications to underlying data — values are computed directly from the USSC source
Sentences of life imprisonment are coded as 470 months in USSC data. Probation and other non-imprisonment sentences are coded as 0 months. Both are included in average sentence calculations.
Editorial Independence
Content on PlainSentencing is compiled by our editorial team. Raw data from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) is transformed into readable district and offense profiles by our continuous editorial pipeline, validated against the source before publication. The PlainSentencing editorial team, operating under Kiznis Studio, is responsible for editorial standards, methodology, and corrections.
We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from law enforcement agencies, courts, attorneys, or any covered entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense — advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.
Limitations
- Aggregate statistics cannot capture all case-specific factors that legitimately affect sentencing
- Districts with fewer cases show more volatile year-to-year changes
- Disparity scores control for offense type but not for quantity, role, or cooperation — factors that legitimately vary
- Data is current through FY2024 (October 2023 – September 2024)
Data Currency
The USSC releases updated datafiles annually, typically several months after the end of each fiscal year (October through September). Our current dataset covers FY2015 through FY2024, the most recently available data at the time of our last update. We update PlainSentencing when the USSC publishes new annual datafiles.
Historical data remains stable — the USSC occasionally revises prior-year files to correct errors, but changes are minor. Our trend analysis covers a full 10-year window, providing sufficient data to identify meaningful patterns and distinguish them from year-to-year noise.
Source and Attribution
Data source: United States Sentencing Commission Datafiles . USSC data is public domain.
Our Mission
PlainSentencing exists because sentencing data should be accessible to everyone — not just lawyers, academics, and policy organizations with the technical resources to process complex government datasets. Federal sentencing affects hundreds of thousands of people each year, and the patterns in sentencing data reveal important truths about how the justice system operates in practice.
We believe that transparent sentencing data strengthens public accountability. When communities can see how their local federal district compares to others — in average sentences, guideline compliance, departure rates, and disparity scores — it creates a foundation for informed discussion about sentencing policy. Our mission is to make that data genuinely accessible.
PlainSentencing is nonpartisan. We do not advocate for particular sentencing policies and we do not take positions on whether sentences are too harsh, too lenient, or appropriately calibrated. We present the data and let researchers, journalists, advocates, and the public draw their own conclusions.
Who This Is For
PlainSentencing serves researchers studying sentencing patterns, journalists investigating the justice system, defense attorneys seeking empirical context for sentencing arguments, policy advocates evaluating sentencing reform proposals, and members of the public seeking to understand how the federal criminal justice system operates. The data is presented in accessible formats designed for users without technical backgrounds, while maintaining the depth that researchers require.
Contact
Questions, corrections, or press inquiries: contact us.