CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

Supreme Court: Federal Judges Have Discretion at Sentencing

By Houston Criminal Defense Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

Under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, a federal district court judge must consider each of the factors prescribed in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) when imposing an appropriate criminal sentence. The § 3553 factors are:

• “Nature and circumstances of the offense” and defendant’s “history and characteristics.” Id., at (a)(1). Under U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence the sentencing judge is limited to those facts (1) “reflected in the jury verdict,” (2) admitted by the defendant, (3) contained in defendant’s guilty plea, or (4) reflect prior convictions. See: Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 303 (2004) [facts affecting sentence must be found by a jury].
• The general purpose of the Sentencing Reform Act. Id., at (a)(2). The purposes of this Act are to have a sentence “(A) reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense; (B) to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct; (C) to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant; and (d) to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner …”
• The types of sentences available. Id., at (a)(3).
• The policy statements of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Id., at (a)(5).
• The need to avoid sentencing disparities between defendants convicted of similar conduct. Id., at (a)(6).
• The need to provide restitution to victims. Id., at (a)(7).
• The applicable sentence range recommended by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Id., at (a)(4).

Three years ago the United States Supreme Court held that the Guidelines are advisory and federal district courts were not required to impose the precise sentence recommended by the Guidelines. See: United States v. Booker, 549 U.S. 220, 245-46 (2005). Two years later the Supreme Court overruled the longstanding legal premise that district courts had to apply a provision of the Guidelines that made one gram of crack cocaine the equivalent of 100 grams of powder cocaine for sentencing purposes. See: Kimbrough v. United States, 128 S.Ct. 558, 575 (2007).

In the wake of Booker, the Honorable Linda R. Reade of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa on November 21, 2005 sentenced James Eric Moore to a term of 188 months in confinement and six years of supervised release following a conviction for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Moore had asked Judge Reade to impose a below-Guidelines sentence in light of the recent Booker decision. The judge replied: (more…)

Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd Discusses Scalias Blistering Dissent Accusing Justices of Aiding Terrorist

The Supreme Court on June 12, 2008 issued a decision that marked the first time in the nation’s history that the constitutional right to the writ of habeas corpus was conferred on enemy aliens detained abroad by American military forces engaged in an ongoing war. See: Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. ____ (2008) [Slip Opinion No. 06-1195 & 06-1196].

This column dealt rather extensively with the legal ramifications and constitutional underpinnings on this decision (June 24, 2008). The Boumediene decision has drawn a great deal of legal scrutiny and political criticism since its release. One of the decision’s harshest critics, however, was Justice Scalia whose 25-page dissent begs attention.

Pointing out that the Boumediene decision had no basis in constitutional law, Justice Scalia accused the court’s majority of issuing an opinion that will make the nation’s “war on terror” harder and “will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.” It is probably the first time that a dissenting U.S. Supreme Court justice has ever accused other justices of doing work that will aid and abet terrorism. Justice Scalia certainly has a right to his point of view, and he prefaced that point of view with the following compelling information:

“America is at war with radical Islamists. The enemy began by killing Americans and American allies abroad: 241 at the Marine barracks in Lebanon, 19 at the Khobar Towers in Dhahran, 224 at our embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi and 17 on the USS Cole in Yemen….On September 11, 2001, the enemy brought the battle to American soil, killing 2,749 at the Twin Towers in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and 40 in Pennsylvania. It has threatened further attacks against our homeland; one need only walk about buttressed and barricaded Washington, or board a plane anywhere in the country, to know the threat is a serious one. Our Armed Forces are now in the field against the enemy, in Afghanistan and Iraq…” (more…)