STATE AUDITOR SUZANNE BUMP released an audit on Thursday that concluded draft sentencing guidelines are being used by judges across the state even though the guidelines have never been enacted by the Legislature.
Bump’s office initiated its audit after the Massachusetts District Attorney Association complained that the guidelines, which incorporate disparate racial and socioeconomic impacts, were improperly being used by judges across the state. The Massachusetts Sentencing Commission approved the guidelines on August 16, 2017, but never sent them along to the Legislature for approval.
“While justice may be blind, the process by which individuals convicted of crimes are sentenced must be plain to see,” Bump said in a statement. “I commend the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission for taking steps to ensure our criminal justice system recognizes disparate racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic impacts when considering sentencing. However, by failing to submit their revisions to the Legislature, it not only denies the body the opportunity to weigh in on the changes it also risks inconsistent use of the guidelines across the Commonwealth.”
As part of its investigation, Bump’s office sought information from the Executive Office of the Trial Court that it believed would show how and whether the draft sentencing guidelines are being used in courts. But the Trial Court office rejected the request for information, prompting the auditor’s office to obtain information on court usage by visiting courts directly and reviewing various documents. A survey of judges conducted last summer by the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission found that 53 percent of those who responded were using the sentencing guidelines in some capacity and 56 percent of that subset said they consulted the guidelines while determining a sentence.
In her report, the state auditor did not criticize judges or the Sentencing Commission. Instead, she urged the Sentencing Commission to set a deadline for submitting the guidelines to the Legislature for approval. To eliminate confusion in the future, she also urged the Legislature to pass a law setting deadlines for futur4e submittals.
The controversy over use of the unapproved sentencing guidelines was the focus of a recent op-ed debate in CommonWealth between attorney Margaret Monsell and Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey. Monsell saw nothing wrong with judges using the unapproved guidelines in an advisory capacity, but Morrissey said they should not be used until and unless they are approved by the Legislature.