Plagarize!

Well, not entirely. But now that the structure and empirical validity of a guideline itself is fodder for a sentencing memo, make sure that you have checked the Sentencing Resource Page before you decide on a guideline attack. The National Federal Defender Sentencing Resource Counsel has drafted papers assessing the background and rationale of a number of guidelines, and their work has been used to obtain favorable sentencing results all over the country. Topics like career offender, acquitted conduct, and the mess that is the child pornography guideline have already been extensively covered, and there is more to come. These papers effectively demonstrate that if drafting a guideline is like making a sausage, you don't want to eat the sausage.

Also feel free to give us a call, especially on immigration cases and when you have a first offender. Always remember that Kimbrough puts the guideline itself on trial at sentencing, and not just in crack cases. The FD Sentencing Resource folks can help you win these arguments.
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