Tool · 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a); § 3661
Write a character letter for sentencing
A guided letter to the judge, in your own words, that prints ready to sign.
Print this. Copy it. Mail it to someone inside. That’s what it’s for. Just don’t sell it.
How to mail it inside, and what the mailroom rejectsYour letter
Saved on this phoneBefore you print
- Add at least one true story you saw yourself. It is the part the judge remembers.
- “A good person” needs proof. Show it with something you saw them do.
- Leave the number of months, or probation, to the lawyer. Ask for mercy in your own words instead.
- Take out anything that argues the case or blames someone else. The letter is about who they are.
- Fill in your name and their full name.
- This is long. One to two pages gets read closely; cut what repeats.
- This draft covers the basics. Read it out loud once, fix anything that doesn’t sound like you, then sign it by hand.
Give the signed letter to the lawyer, not the judge.
1 How this works
Why a letter matters. The law puts no limit on what the judge can learn about a person’s background and character before sentencing,1 and the judge has to consider “the history and characteristics of the defendant” in choosing a sentence that is “sufficient, but not greater than necessary.”2 A letter from someone who knows them is one of the few ways that history reaches the judge in a voice other than the lawyer’s.
Quality, not numbers. One letter with a true story the writer saw is worth more than a stack of letters that say the same nice things.
What to put in. Who you are: your name, your work and where you live. How you know them and for how long. That you know why they are being sentenced. Two or three true things you saw them do, with enough detail that the judge can picture it. What you have seen since the arrest, if it is true. Who depends on them. What you will do to help when they come home: a place to live, a job lead, rides to appointments. Then ask for mercy in your own words.
What to leave out. Don’t argue the case, blame the government, or say they didn’t do it. The judge has already decided guilt, and a letter that argues it gives the judge nothing to use. Leave the number of months to the lawyer. Write only what is true and what you saw yourself.
Who gets it. Give the signed letter to the lawyer. Don’t mail it to the judge yourself. The lawyer decides how it reaches the court, and can also give it to the probation officer while the presentence report is being written.
2 What this can’t tell you
- It writes nothing for you. It lays out your answers as a letter and adds a few plain connecting lines, which you can change. The words that matter have to be yours.
- The lawyer may want changes. Some lawyers want letters on letterhead, addressed a certain way, or sent by a date. Ask before you print the final copy.
- A letter can become public. Letters filed with the court can end up in the court record, where others may read them. Write nothing you wouldn’t want read aloud.
- It is one piece of the sentencing. The guideline range, the presentence report, the lawyer’s sentencing memorandum and what the defendant says in court all count too.
- Your draft stays on this phone, saved as you type so a dropped connection doesn’t lose it. “Erase the draft” clears it.
3 Guides that go with this tool
This is educational information from a paralegal, not legal advice. Every case is different. Talk to a lawyer about yours.