FIVE BASIC ISSUES WERE ADDRESSED: NATURE OF SENTENCING PRACTICES, CONSISTENCY OF SENTENCING PRACTICES WITH THE INTENT OF SENTENCING REFORM, ANTICIPATED IMPACT OF SENTENCING REFORM PROPOSALS ON JUDICIAL SENTENCING BEHAVIOR, IMPACT OF SENTENCING REFORM PROPOSALS ON THE CORRECTIONS SYSTEM, AND CHOICE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A NEW APPROACH TO SENTENCING. GROUPS OF OFFENDERS WERE DISTINGUISHED BY THE TYPE OF CRIME COMMITTED, WHETHER THEY USED A FIREARM, THE NUMBER OF TIMES PREVIOUSLY CONVICTED, DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS (AGE, RACE, AND SEX), AND COUNTY IN WHICH THEY WERE SENTENCED. OFFENDERS CONVICTED OR MORE SERIOUS CRIMES WERE COMPARED TO THOSE CONVICTED OF LESS SERIOUS CRIMES. SENTENCES GIVEN IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE STATE WERE COMPARED BY PARTITIONING THE STATE INTO FIVE SEPARATE REGIONS. THE PROBABILITY OF PRISON ALWAYS INCREASED AS THE SERIOUSNESS OF OFFENSE INCREASED, AS THE NUMBER OF FELONY CONVICTIONS INCREASED, AND IF A FIREARM WAS USED. VARIOUS SENTENCING PROPOSALS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED IN THE PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATURE, CHARACTERIZED BY FOUR BASIC FACTORS: TYPE OF OFFENSE COVERED, TYPE OF OFFENDER AFFECTED, TYPE OF PUNISHMENT PROPOSED, AND LENGTH OF MINIMUM SENTENCE PROPOSED. LEGISLATIVELY PRESCRIBED SENTENCES, AS EXEMPLIFIED BY MANDATORY SENTENCING BILLS, WILL RESULT IN A SENTENCING POLICY WHERE SIMILAR SENTENCES ARE GIVEN TO A WIDE RANGE OF OFFENDERS. AN ALTERNATIVE TO MANDATORY SENTENCING IS RECOMMENDED TO DEAL WITH MAJOR CONCERNS OF DISPARITY, LENIENCY, JUDICIAL FLEXIBILITY, AND INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION OF EACH CASE. THREE SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPLEMENT AN ALTERNATIVE SENTENCING SCHEME ARE OFFERED: (1) A SENTENCING GUIDELINE SYSTEM SHOULD BE DEVELOPED; (2) A SENTENCING COMMISSION COMPOSED OF A REPRESENTATIVE MIX OF OFFICIALS FROM THE JUDICIARY, THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, AND THE LEGISLATURE SHOULD DEVELOP, IMPLEMENT, AND CONTINUOUSLY EVALUATE THE SENTENCING GUIDELINE SYSTEM; AND (3) THE SENTENCING COMMISSION SHOULD ORGANIZE A STAFF TO DETERMINE THE LEGAL VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF COURT INFORMATION SYSTEMS USED TO DOCUMENT PRIOR RECORDS OF OFFENDERS AND AND TO SUPERVISE A DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS EFFORT FOR PLANNING AND EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF THE SENTENCING GUIDELINE SYSTEM. SUPPORTING DATA ON SENTENCES IN PENNSYLVANIA ARE PROVIDED. (DEP)