By analysing long‐run trends in the courts' use of custodial sanctions, this paper compares the reasons for the limited success in diverting adult offenders from imprisonment by increasing the use of fines during the late 1950s and 1960s, and the subsequent replacement of fines by imprisonment as the range of alternatives to custody expanded. These changes are explained by the role of information and previous sentencing practices in reducing uncertainly in the sentencing environment, Additionally, it is argued that statutory limitations are insufficient to compel sentencers to change practices. The effects of the Criminal Justice Act 1982, with implications for the Criminal Justice Act 1988, on the sentencing of young adults are given as an illustration of this poin