A report on the effects of sentencing councils on sentencing disparity in four district courts. (Sentencing councils were used before the 1984 Sentencing Reform Act in an effort to reduce unwarranted sentencing disparity.) The report concludes that the effect of introducing a sentencing council into a court cannot be predicted without knowledge of many court characteristics; that sentencing councils can either reduce or increase sentencing disparity, depending on the characteristics of the court; and that sentencing councils can polarize sentencing attitudes.