The Presentence Investigation Report
Selection of an appropriate sentence is one of the most important decisions to
be made in the criminal justice system. The primary vehicle to assist the sentencing
court in fulfilling this responsibility is the presentence investigation report. The task
of conducting presentence investigations is assigned to U.S. probation officers, an
assignment requiring a professional presentence report of the highest quality.
As a component of the federal judiciary responsible for community
corrections, the Federal Probation and Pretrial Services System is fundamentally
committed to providing protection to the public and assisting in the fair administration
of justice. As community corrections professionals, probation officers preparing
presentence reports possess and use skills from various disciplines to investigate
relevant facts about defendants; assess those facts in light of the purposes of
sentencing; apply the appropriate guidelines, statutes, and rules to the available facts;
and provide clear, concise, and objective reports that will assist the sentencing judges
in determining appropriate sentences, aid the Bureau of Prisons in making
classification, designation and programming decisions, and assist the probation officer
during supervision of the offender in the community.
The probation officer’s role as the court’s independent investigator is critical,
although the scope of any investigation may be modified by the court. Officers should
be open to receiving information from all parties, but should be cautious about
adopting any party’s interpretation outright. It is the probation officer’s responsibility
to prepare all sections of the presentence report, including the tentative advisory
guideline range. Attorneys for opposing sides may aggressively contest the accuracy
of facts contained in the presentence report or application of the guidelines to those
facts.
The presentence report will follow the defendant through his or her contacts
in the federal criminal justice system. Many decisions -- from the sentence imposed,
to the type of prison -- are made based on information presented in the report. The
report is designed to provide the court with a complete and concise picture of the
defendant.
In November 1987, the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 became effective,
radically changing the philosophical model for sentencing offenders in the Federal
courts. Congress relinquished an indeterminate model of sentencing and adopted a
determinate model based upon national guidelines. Radical changes in the content and
