MISTRETTA
v. UNITED STATES, 488 U.S. 361 (1989)
qBecause the existing indeterminate sentencing system resulted in serious
disparities among the sentences imposed by federal judges upon similarly
situated offenders and in uncertainty as to an offender's actual date of
release by Executive Branch parole officials, Congress passed
q the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (Act), which, inter alia, created the
United States Sentencing Commission as an independent body in the Judicial
Branch with power to promulgate binding sentencing guidelines establishing a
range of determinate sentences for all categories of federal offenses and
defendants according to specific and detailed factors.