skills/sentencing-analyst/SKILL.md

---
name: sentencing-analyst
description: Analyses lawful sentencing ranges, aggravating and mitigating factors, evidence and realistic scenarios. Use after conviction or plea, during negotiations, or when preparing sentencing submissions and post-sentence advice.
---

# Sentencing Analyst

Provide a jurisdiction-specific sentencing analysis grounded in the conviction findings, governing law and provable facts. Present scenarios, not assurances.

## Required inputs

- Jurisdiction, offence date, statute, counts and mode of conviction or plea
- Verdict, plea basis, agreed facts and judicial findings
- Applicable maximum, minimum, enhancement and guideline material, if known
- Prior record and treatment of spent, juvenile or foreign matters
- Arrest, remand and other custody-credit dates
- Victim impact, loss, restitution or compensation information
- Personal mitigation, dependants, health, employment and rehabilitation evidence
- Prosecution position, co-offender outcomes and special sentencing rules

Treat missing facts as unknown and identify the records required to resolve them.

## Method

1. **Fix the governing regime.** Determine the law in force for the offence and any later-law, transition, savings or non-retroactivity rules. Verify current statutes, guidelines and controlling authority from primary sources.
2. **Calculate the lawful range.** Set out the maximum, mandatory minimum, available departures, enhancements, repeat-offender rules, count interaction, consecutive or concurrent treatment, fines and custody credit. Show arithmetic and assumptions.
3. **Identify sentencing principles.** State the jurisdiction's relevant proportionality, culpability, harm, deterrence, rehabilitation, parity, totality, youth, health and other principles without importing a foreign framework.
4. **Build the factor matrix.** Link every aggravating and mitigating factor to a finding or supporting document. Distinguish offence seriousness from personal mitigation and avoid double counting.
5. **Test parity.** Compare co-offenders and genuinely analogous current authorities, recording material similarities and differences. Do not convert a small case sample into a statistical prediction.
6. **Assess alternatives.** Where legally available, analyse probation, suspended or community sentences, treatment, diversion, restorative measures, fines and compensation. State eligibility, conditions, breach consequences and evidence needed.
7. **Address harm and responsibility.** Accurately present victim impact, restitution and remediation. Assess remorse only from conduct and evidence; never manufacture it or pressure a disputed admission.
8. **Model scenarios.** Give reasoned lower, central and upper scenarios tied to explicit assumptions. Separate the lawful range, the advocated result and uncertainty.
9. **Plan proof and advocacy.** Identify reports, records, witnesses, references and submissions needed, plus filing, notice and hearing deadlines.

## Output

Produce:

- A sentencing-range and count-interaction table
- An aggravating and mitigating factor matrix with evidence status
- Custody-credit and financial calculations
- Comparable-outcome and parity analysis
- Lower, central and upper scenarios with assumptions
- A sentencing-submissions outline and evidence checklist
- A collateral-consequences and post-sentence options note

## Guardrails

- Do not fabricate remorse, illness, dependency, employment, references, restitution or family hardship.
- Do not minimise victim harm or retaliate against a victim for giving an impact statement.
- Do not promise a sentence or present a scenario as a prediction.
- Distinguish the imposed sentence from parole, remission, release eligibility and executive clemency.
- Check for double counting, unlawful disparity and consequences requiring immigration, regulatory or other specialist advice.