William K. “Chip’ Bradford speaks at ACDLA “4 Corners” Seminar on Alabama Sentencing Guidelines
Bradford was a featured speaker at this years ACDLA “4 Corners” Seminar in Enterprise, Alabama, speaking on issues with the Alabama Sentencing Guidelines. Bradford presented area criminal defense attorneys with an overview of the sentencing guidelines, which were recently made presumptively correct for a number of offenses involving property and drug charges. Among the topics covered were the protocols for departing upward or downward from the presumed correct sentence. The Alabama Sentencing Guidelines is a systematic program for calculating criminal sentencing. The system was developed by the Alabama Sentencing Commission at the request of the Alabama State Legislature.
The sentencing guidelines have been in place for a number of years, but their use by sentencing judges has been voluntary. This past year, the state legislature ordered that the use of the guidelines should be made “presumptive,” meaning that they are presumed to be correct, and a sentencing judge can only deviate from the calculation under the guidelines where there are compelling reasons based on specific aggravating and mitigating factors.
For more on the Alabama Sentencing Guidelines, please visit our website devoted to the Alabama Sentencing Guidelines.
If you have questions about the Alabama Sentencing Guidelines or Alabama Criminal Law, please contact Bradford Ladner, LLP.
