The discussion rests in part on the professional experiences of the principal author as an assistant United States Attorney and in the Department of Justice Criminal Division and the coauthor’s experience as a United States District Court Judge and a United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit. The analysis notes that the transfer of formal sentencing authority from Federal judges to the Sentencing Commission is probably the most significant development in assessing the Federal judicial system since the 1938 adoption of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The new regime transformed both the judge’s role and the Federal criminal law itself. This system has distressed many people who are closely involved in the criminal justice process. However, the guidelines have become increasingly entrenched; critics understandably appear to have become resigned to them. However, the Federal sentencing system is ineffective in that rigidity and unfairness has come to typify Federal sentencing. Needed actions include a reassessment of the foundations of the crusade that led to their enactment, an appraisal of their performance, and a revised course for the future of Federal sentencing. The years of these guidelines may appear in the future to be a period of transition between the fully discretionary sentencing system and a new and lasting regime of guided judicial discretion in criminal sentencing. Index, chapter reference notes, and 400 references