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Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2019

Notre Dame Law School

18 USC § 3553(a)(2)(D)

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18 U.S.C. § 3553(A)’S Undervalued Sentencing Command: Providing A Federal Criminal Defendant With Rehabilitation, Training, And Treatment In “The Most Effective Manner”, Erica Zunkel Jan 2019

18 U.S.C. § 3553(A)’S Undervalued Sentencing Command: Providing A Federal Criminal Defendant With Rehabilitation, Training, And Treatment In “The Most Effective Manner”, Erica Zunkel

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

The vast majority of federal criminal defendants are sentenced to prison, and non-incarceration sentences have become vanishingly small. During the sentencing process, federal district court judges are required to consider what sentence will provide the defendant with necessary rehabilitation and treatment in the most effective manner pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(d). Courts regularly undervalue, ignore, or even violate this statutory command. Some courts seem to believe that the Bureau of Prisons can provide adequate rehabilitation and treatment and do not explain how this squares with what the statute requires. Other courts barely engage with the issue. Only a minority …