The analysis revealed that, if the North Carolina guidelines had been imposed on the 1996 population, over 3,700 Georgia felony offenders would have received a prison sentence instead of probation. The analysis also showed that over 2,200 offenders who were admitted into Georgia's prison system as a result of a felony conviction would have received probation sentences under the North Carolina guidelines. The "net" increase in prison sentences appeared to demonstrate how structured sentencing increased the severity of punishment. A comparison of average prison sentence lengths, however, showed that Georgia's sanctions were harsher on many property and drug offenders. The authors suggest that sound criminal justice policy in Georgia should be based on the results of objective research and that more relevant issues should be contemplated by Georgia lawmakers before any system wide changes in sentencing laws are proposed. 8 references, 6 footnotes, and 3 tables