DEPARTURE

departure,n.1.  A  deviation  or  divergence  from  a  standard  rule,  regulation,  measurement,  or

course of conduct <an impermissible departure from sentencing guidelines>.

downward  departure.In the federal sentencing  guidelines, a court’s imposition  of a sentence

more lenient than the standard  guidelines propose, as when the court concludes that a criminal’s

history is less serious than it appears. [Cases: Sentencing and Punishment    850. C.J.S. Criminal

Law § 1479.]

forbidden departure.An impermissible deviation from the federal sentencing guidelines based

on race, sex, national origin, creed, religion, or socioeconomic status.

lateral  departure.In  the  federal  sentencing  guidelines,  a  sentence  allowing  a  defendant  to

avoid incarceration through community or home confinement. — Also termed lateral sentencing.

[Cases: Sentencing and Punishment    800–802. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 1479, 1483.]

upward  departure.In  the  federal  sentencing  guidelines,  a  court’s  imposition  of  a  sentence

harsher than the standard guidelines propose, as when the court concludes that a criminal’s history

did not take into account additional offenses committed while the prisoner was out on bail. [Cases:

Sentencing and Punishment    814. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 1479, 1526.]

2.  A  variance  between  a  pleading  and  a  later  pleading  or  proof  <the  departure between  the D

plaintiff’s pleadings and the actual evidence was significant>.3. A party’s desertion of the ground

(either legal or factual) taken in the immediately preceding pleading and resort to another ground

<the defendant’s departure from the asserted alibi necessitated a guilty plea>. — depart,vb. [Blacks Law 8th]