Our Methodology

Disclaimer: PlainSentencing is for educational and research purposes only. Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice. For guidance on a specific case, consult a qualified federal defense attorney.

Data Source

All data comes from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC), 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 annual public-use datafiles covering each fiscal year (October 1 – September 30).

Our database aggregates FY2015 through FY2024 — covering over 660,000 federal sentencing records across 90 judicial districts and 45 offense categories.

Cross-references for federal sentencing context include the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts statistical reports (caseload and judicial workload statistics by district), the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS national-scope criminal justice analyses), and the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database (case-level docket data). For the binding sentencing rules themselves, the USSC Guidelines Manual is authoritative.

Data Format and Extraction

USSC annual datafiles are distributed in fixed-width SPSS format (FY2015 through FY2023) and CSV format (FY2024). Each annual file contains tens of thousands of individual sentencing records. We extract the following variables for each case record:

  • Federal judicial district
  • Primary offense guideline category
  • Sentence length in months
  • Guideline minimum and maximum range
  • Departure type (within, above, below, Booker variance)
  • Plea type (guilty plea vs. trial)
  • Fiscal year

Aggregation and Computed Metrics

After extraction, we aggregate case-level records by district and fiscal year to compute:

  • Case counts: Total sentences per district per year per offense type.
  • Average sentence: Mean sentence length in months, including probation (coded 0) and life imprisonment (coded 470 per USSC convention).
  • Guideline compliance rate: Percentage of cases sentenced within the guideline range.
  • Departure breakdown: Shares sentenced above, below, or via Booker variance.
  • Disparity score: Average percentage difference vs. national average for the same offense types in each district, across all available years. A district at +20% sentences 20% longer than the national average for comparable offenses.

Important Coding Notes

  • Life sentences are coded as 470 months in USSC data. This is included in average sentence calculations.
  • Probation and other non-imprisonment sentences are coded as 0 months and are included in averages.
  • No modifications are applied to the underlying USSC values.

Processing Pipeline

We download annual USSC public-use datafiles for each fiscal year and process them through our ETL pipeline:

  • Parse fixed-width SPSS format files (FY2015–FY2023) and CSV format (FY2024), extracting the relevant sentencing variables for each case record
  • Map federal judicial district codes to district names and geographic locations
  • Classify primary offense guideline categories using USSC's published offense type groupings
  • Compute aggregate statistics (mean sentence, guideline compliance rate, departure breakdowns) by district, offense type, and fiscal year
  • Calculate disparity scores comparing each district's sentencing patterns against national averages for the same offense types

No sentencing data is modified or editorialized. All case-level values (sentence length, guideline range, departure type) are taken directly from USSC public-use files. Aggregate metrics are computed from these source records using standard statistical methods.

Limitations

  • Aggregate statistics cannot capture all case-specific factors that legitimately affect sentencing (quantity, role, cooperation, criminal history).
  • Districts with lower case volumes show more volatile year-to-year changes.
  • Disparity scores control for offense type but not for case-level aggravating or mitigating factors.
  • Data is current through FY2024 (October 2023 – September 2024).
  • USSC public-use files exclude certain identifying information for privacy; some case details are not available.
  • State criminal sentencing is entirely separate from federal sentencing and is not covered by this database.

Not Affiliated

PlainSentencing is not affiliated with the United States Sentencing Commission, the Department of Justice, or any government agency. Source data is public domain via ussc.gov.