Recent sociological research in organizations has emphasized the filtering of external policies and rules through local organization cultures and strategic interaction process. This type of generic organizational process has special importance for courts and sentencing in that they have been the focus of discussions for more than three decades. The framework for the present research included Perrucci's concept of embeddedness and Peyrot's concept of properties in the use of formal decision making tools. The study used qualitative interview and field data on organizational context and case processing strategies in the three courts and noted that Pennsylvania courts have operated under sentencing guidelines for more than a decade. Results revealed that prosecutors' offices can use sentencing guidelines as management tools, judges can use them to legitimate their sentencing practices in political disputes, and both prosecutors and defense attorneys use them as important tools of uncertainty reduction in their guilty plea strategies. Findings suggested that the implementation of externally imposed formal rules and decision making criteria depends on local relationships, activities, and informal decision making criteria. Tables, footnotes, and 47 references (Author abstract modified)