Pre-Sentence Investigation Reports

The pre-sentence investigation report, commonly called the PSI report or just PSI, is a document prepared to assist judges in making decisions involving [Page 315]sentences in criminal cases in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. The report, normally prepared by probation officers, gives detailed information not only to the courts but also to others in the criminal justice system who work with offenders.

The first PSI report was probably prepared around 1841 by John Augustus, considered the father of probation in America, and although the informal document used at that time probably bears little resemblance to the formal ones of today, it marked the beginning of the current report. Pre-sentence investigation reports continued to be fairly informal documents that were prepared by various court staff until a standardized federal version was adopted in 1943. The PSI reports prepared in state and local jurisdictions are quite varied in style and content, according to the specific needs of the jurisdiction and the desires of the judges. The report can be in long or short format: the long version is normally reserved for offenders facing felony convictions, and the shorter version is more often used for misdemeanor offenses.

The PSI is normally prepared by personnel from the jurisdiction's probation office because the probation officer is considered to be an impartial observer, unlike the defense attorney, whose job it is to represent the offender, and the state attorney, whose function is to prosecute the defendant. Although PSI preparation is normally a duty performed by government probation officers, some private probation officers and firms now provide this function; this is a result of the general trend to privatize services that were previously reserved for governmental agents.

The PSI contains several types of data: current defendant data; circumstances of the offense (including aggravating or mitigating circumstances); current victim information; and type, amount, and recipient of restitution. The defendant's personal information often includes employment situation and history, educational level, social history, environmental and social support, substance abuse history, military history, current and past financial situation, codefendant information, and any other pertinent data about the accused that could be valuable in helping the judge arrive at an appropriate sentence. In many cases, the probation officer makes a recommendation to the judge regarding the type of sentencing, and often the probation officer confers with the prosecutor, and sometimes the defendant's attorney, prior to sentencing.

The pre-sentence investigation report is a document detailing the background and character of the person being sentenced and may contain information on prior convictions, the defendant's work, marital, financial, and/or medical history, and recommendations to assist the judge in deciding a sentence involving criminal cases in federal, state, and local jurisdictions.

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Earlier forms of the PSI, called offender-based reports, focused primarily on specific offender information such as criminal background, social history, details of the offense, family background, educational attainment, health, financial status, and rehabilitative potential. Later, because of sentencing guidelines that reflected a change to a more punitive ideology and determinate sentencing patterns, PSIs were shortened and modified to emphasize the offender's prior criminal history and other information that could assist judges in determining offender culpability; these have been termed offense-based reports.

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