Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/624/415/312540/
Timestamp: 2019-08-18 09:15:40
Document Index: 552636461

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 5006', '§ 5010', '§ 5023', '§ 5010', '§ 5011', '§ 5023', '§ 5017', '§ 5017', '§ 3', '§ 5010', '§ 5010']

Richard L. Thompson v. Norman Carlson, Director, United States Bureau of Prisons,and Charles Fenton, Warden, United Statespenitentiary, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Appellants, 624 F.2d 415 (3d Cir. 1980) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Third Circuit › 1980 › Richard L. Thompson v. Norman Carlson, Director, United States Bureau of Prisons,and Charles Fenton,...
Richard L. Thompson v. Norman Carlson, Director, United States Bureau of Prisons,and Charles Fenton, Warden, United Statespenitentiary, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Appellants, 624 F.2d 415 (3d Cir. 1980)
US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit - 624 F.2d 415 (3d Cir. 1980)
Argued Dec. 12, 1979. Decided May 22, 1980
Nonetheless, the magistrate held that Thompson was entitled to be segregated from adult inmates because of this court's interpretation of the YCA in United States ex rel. Dancy v. Arnold, 572 F.2d 107 (3d Cir. 1978), and the subsequent district court opinion in Micklus v. Carlson, No. 77-1070 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 14, 1978), appeal dismissed as moot, 591 F.2d 1336 (3d Cir. 1979).
The YCA has been described by the Supreme Court as "the most comprehensive federal statute concerned with sentencing." Dorzynski v. United States, 418 U.S. 424, 432, 94 S. Ct. 3042, 3047, 41 L. Ed. 2d 855 (1974). Its provisions are designed to "make available for the discretionary use of the Federal judges a system for the sentencing and treatment of persons under the age of 22 years . . . that will promote the rehabilitation of those who . . . show promise of becoming useful citizens, and so will avoid the degenerative and needless transformation of many of these young persons into habitual criminals." H.R.Rep.No. 2979, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 1 (1950), reprinted in (1950) U.S.Code Cong. Service p. 3983 (hereinafter "H.R.Rep.No. 2979").
Under the statute, a judge sentencing a youth offender, defined as "a person under the age of twenty-two years at the time of conviction," 18 U.S.C. § 5006(d), must determine whether the youth offender will derive benefit from treatment under the YCA. 18 U.S.C. § 5010(d).1 In Dorzynski v. United States, supra, the Court held that the statute requires an explicit finding of "no benefit" as a condition precedent to sentencing an eligible offender as an adult, but also held that the sentencing judge need not accompany such a finding by supporting reasons. When the sentencing court does find that the youth offender could derive benefit from the YCA, the Act provides the sentencing court with options additional to those ordinarily available. 418 U.S. at 441-42, 94 S. Ct. at 3051-52. In the Dorzynski case, the Supreme Court reviewed in detail the history of the Act and described the options of treatment and probation made available to the federal sentencing court under the Act.
The second sentencing judge has the choice to impose a YCA sentence, an adult sentence to run concurrently, or an adult sentence to run consecutively. Although the Ninth Circuit has held that it would be inconsistent to impose simultaneously a YCA sentence and a consecutive adult sentence, United States v. Ortiz, 513 F.2d 198, 199 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 843, 96 S. Ct. 78, 46 L. Ed. 2d 64 (1975), see also Burks v. United States, 496 F.2d 24, 25 (6th Cir. 1974), the Tenth Circuit has held that a subsequently imposed adult sentence on a YCA offender does not create a statutory or constitutional conflict. Roddy v. United States, 509 F.2d 1145 (10th Cir. 1975); Nast v. United States, 415 F.2d 338 (10th Cir. 1969).7 The court recognized that "the rehabilitative potential afforded by commitment to a youth corrections center might be lessened by a subsequently imposed consecutive sentence," id. at 340, but noted that the second sentencing court was not required to give effect to the previously imposed indeterminate youth sentence. Roddy v. United States, supra at 1147. Those cases preceded the Dancy decision and therefore the opinions did not discuss the effect of the imposition of the second sentence on the terms and conditions of commitment under the original YCA sentence. However, the YCA statute itself expressly recognizes that there can be judicial reevaluation during the service of a YCA sentence. It provides that nothing in the Act "shall limit or affect the power of any court to suspend the imposition or execution of any sentence and place a youth offender on probation", 18 U.S.C. § 5023. Also, the statute was amended in 1961 to extend the benefit of a certificate setting aside the conviction to offenders sentenced to probation under § 5010(a) when the court unconditionally discharges the offender prior to expiration of the sentence of probation imposed. See Durst v. United States, 434 U.S. 542, 548, 98 S. Ct. 849, 852, 55 L. Ed. 2d 14 (1978). Thus, it would not be inconsistent with the statutory scheme to hold that a judicial reevaluation of the continued benefit of commitment as a YCA offender is permissible when such a reevaluation is triggered by the offender's own commission of a crime.
6. We recognize that a result of this holding is to permit the transfer of Thompson to commitment under conditions of confinement which he finds substantially less favorable than those under which he was previously committed. Since that transfer followed a judicial determination made after a full due process trial which was precipitated by the offender's commission of the crime. We do not confront the issue which faced the Court in Meachum v. Fano, 427 U.S. 215, 96 S. Ct. 2532, 49 L. Ed. 2d 451 (1976) and Montanye v. Haymes, 427 U.S. 236, 96 S. Ct. 2543, 49 L. Ed. 2d 466 (1976).
The YCA was specially designed to improve the treatment of youths convicted in federal courts between the vulnerable ages of 16 and 22, a time "when special factors operate() to produce habitual criminals." Dorszynski v. United States, 418 U.S. 424, 433, 94 S. Ct. 3042, 3048, 41 L. Ed. 2d 855 (1974). The ultimate goal of the Act, according to the Supreme Court, is the rehabilitation of youth offenders. Id. To this end, the Act provides the sentencing judge with "a wide variety of sentencing options to ensure that youth offenders receive treatment commensurate with their individual needs for correction and rehabilitation and society's need for protection from anti-social youths." United States ex rel. Dancy v. Arnold, 572 F.2d at 110 (1978).
An important feature of the regime established by the Act is that once a youth offender is committed for treatment, execution of sentence is to fit the person, not the crime for which the offender is convicted. Dorszynski, 418 U.S. at 434, 94 S. Ct. at 3048. As a result, youth offenders may in some circumstances be sentenced under the YCA to a longer term of confinement than could an adult convicted of the same offense. We have joined other courts of appeals in upholding the constitutionality of permitting youths to receive YCA sentences that are longer than those to which adults would be subject, however, on the ground that a sentence to the custody of the Attorney General for YCA supervision and treatment is essentially and significantly different from an ordinary prison sentence. See Brisco v. United States, 368 F.2d 214, 215 (3d Cir. 1966); Rogers v. United States, 326 F.2d 56 (10th Cir. 1963); Cunningham v. United States, 256 F.2d 467, 472 (5th Cir. 1958). As we declared in Dancy, "the basic theory of the Act is rehabilitation and in a sense this rehabilitation may be regarded as comprising the quid pro quo for a longer confinement but under different conditions and terms than a defendant would undergo in an ordinary prison." 572 F.2d at 111 (quoting Carter v. United States, 306 F.2d 283, 285 (opinion of Burger, J.) (D.C. Cir. 1962).
The only sentence presently being served by Richard Thompson was imposed pursuant to the YCA. Section 5011 of that statute clearly provides that youth offenders sentenced and confined pursuant to the Act "shall be segregated from other offenders" in "institutions . . . that will provide the essential varieties of treatment" contemplated by the Act, 18 U.S.C. § 5011. See United States ex rel. Dancy v. Arnold, 572 F.2d at 107. The Supreme Court has recently reiterated that "(t)he starting point in every case involving the construction of a statute is the language itself," International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Daniel, 439 U.S. 551, 558, 99 S. Ct. 790, 795, 58 L. Ed. 2d 808 (1979) (quoting Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores, 421 U.S. 723, 726, 95 S. Ct. 1917, 1920, 44 L. Ed. 2d 539 (1975) (Powell, J. concurring)). And, as the majority recognizes, nothing in either the YCA's provisions or its legislative history suggests that the imposition of a consecutive sentence could supply the predicate for modifying the terms of an offender's prior commitment under the Act.1 Moreover, again as the majority itself points out, the Supreme Court has described the YCA as "the most comprehensive federal statute concerned with sentencing," Dorszynski, 418 U.S. at 432, 94 S. Ct. at 3047.
Even if it is assumed arguendo that the second sentencing judge did make a finding regarding the continued benefit to Thompson of YCA treatment during his initial sentence, however, there is absolutely no statutory basis for permitting a second sentencing judge to reevaluate the continued benefit to a youth offender of treatment under a YCA sentence imposed previously by a different trial judge for an entirely separate offense. The majority argues in support of this conclusion that "the YCA statute itself expressly recognized that there can be judicial reevaluation during the service of a YCA sentence." To buttress this assertion, the majority relies on the statutory provision that "(n)othing in this chapter shall limit or affect the power of any court to suspend the imposition or execution of any sentence . . ., " 18 U.S.C. § 5023. But this provision simply makes clear that the YCA was not meant to limit or affect any already existing power of a court regarding suspended sentences and probation. There is not a word in the legislation about augmenting sentences or about having a second judge in any way change them. Indeed, the majority's construction of the Act is devoid of support in either the statutory provisions or the legislative history. As a result, the only justification the majority can muster for the type of judicial reevaluation it condones is that the YCA does not specifically prohibit such a scheme. I think it may fairly be presumed, however, that if Congress in enacting "the most comprehensive federal statute concerned with sentencing" had intended this sort of reconsideration of YCA sentences, it would have said so.3
Not only is the majority's construction unsupported by any language in the statute, it is also at variance with traditional sentencing doctrine, clear congressional intent, and the opinion of the Supreme Court in Dorszynski. As the Court specifically determined, "(t)he intent of Congress (in enacting the YCA) was in accord with long-established authority in the United States vesting the sentencing function exclusively in the trial court," 418 U.S. at 440, 94 S. Ct. at 3051. Noting that, because the Act was the product of studies made by a committee of federal judges, the views of the Act's sponsors were "of particular importance" with regard to the Act's effect on the sentencing discretion of trial judges, the Court concluded that "they uniformly support the view that the Act was intended to preserve the unfettered sentencing discretion of federal district judges," 418 U.S. 424, 94 S. Ct. 3042, 41 L. Ed. 2d 855. Accordingly, the Supreme Court held "that the discretion vested in a district judge under (the Act) is essentially the same as the traditional discretion vested in the (sentencing) court," 418 U.S. at 442, 94 S. Ct. at 3052.
The Supreme Court then pointed out that it is a firmly settled rule of federal criminal practice that no other judicial body may review or exercise control over a sentence imposed by a trial court, so long as that sentence is within the limits allowed by statute and the Constitution, 418 U.S. at 440-41, 94 S. Ct. at 3051.4 A sentencing judge's exercise of discretion, absent an abuse, is not subject to challenge. And, quite clearly in the view of the Supreme Court at least, "the Act was meant to enlarge, not restrict, the sentencing options of federal trial courts in order to . . . 'promote the rehabilitation of (youth offenders) who in the opinion of the sentencing judge, show promise of becoming useful citizens . . .,' " 418 U.S. at 436, 94 S. Ct. at 3049, (quoting in part, with emphasis added) H.R.Rep.No. 2979, Cong.Sess. 1. The conclusion that the imposition of an adult sentence by one judge would preclude YCA treatment under the sentence of another, however, as the District of Columbia Court of Appeals has recently declared, is "clearly inconsistent with the purpose of the Act 'to add to the array of sentencing options previously available' to sentencing judges," Johnson v. United States, 391 A.2d 1383, 1384 (1978) (quoting in part Dorszynski, 418 U.S. at 433, 94 S. Ct. at 3048). Indeed, the majority's approach effectively denies what that court called "an essential prerequisite" to the sentencing judge's determination whether a defendant will benefit from YCA treatment: namely, "that each sentencing judge exercise his own discretion, a discretion which cannot be delegated," 391 A.2d 1383, 1384 (1978).5 Like the Supreme Court, but unlike the majority, I do not believe we should "assume Congress to have intended such a departure from well-established doctrine without a clear expression to disavow it," Dorszynski, 418 U.S. at 441, 94 S. Ct. at 3052.
It is of course true, as the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has recognized in rejecting an argument similar to the majority's, that "the rehabilitative potential afforded by commitment to a youth corrections center might be lessened by a subsequently imposed consecutive sentence," Nast v. United States, 415 F.2d 338, 340 (10th Cir. 1969). On the other hand, it may be that a youth who goes through a period of treatment in a youth correction center would be less susceptible to the influences of hardened criminals during his subsequent confinement than one not so treated. This might be so if one accepts the motivating assumption, which was central to the enactment of the statute, that an offender is more susceptible to corrective treatment and rehabilitation as a "youth" than in later years, Dorszynski, 418 U.S. at 432-33, 94 S. Ct. at 3047-48.
In any event, "(T)hese are peculiarly questions of legislative policy." Dorszynski, 418 U.S. at 442, 94 S. Ct. at 3052 (quoting Gore v. United States, 357 U.S. 386, 393, 78 S. Ct. 1280, 1284, 2 L. Ed. 2d 1405 (1958)). Accordingly, whatever the relative merits of such arguments, I agree with the Tenth Circuit that "the problem raised by appellant is for such legislative consideration as it might enlist, rather than one to be solved as appellant presses upon this court," Nast v. United States, 415 F.2d at 340. If, as the majority believes, the statute as drafted is thought inadequate or unwise, "the remedy," to quote the Supreme Court, "must be afforded by act of Congress, not by judicial legislation under the guise of construction," Dorszynski, 418 U.S. at 442, 94 S. Ct. at 3052 (quoting Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 305, 52 S. Ct. 180, 182, 76 L. Ed. 306 (1932)).
If a youth offender is sentenced to probation under section 5010(a) the court may impose a fine as a condition of probation. Durst v. United States, 434 U.S. 542, 553, 98 S. Ct. 849, 855, 55 L. Ed. 2d 14 (1978). If a youth offender is sentenced under section 5010(b) for an indefinite sentence, s/he may be released under supervision at any time, must be released under supervision within 4 years from the date of conviction, and must be unconditionally discharged within 6 years from the date of conviction. 18 U.S.C. § 5017(a) and (c). If the youth offender is sentenced under section 5010(c), s/he may be sentenced for a time longer than 6 years, but for no longer than authorized by law for the particular offense for which s/he is convicted. Youth offenders sentenced under that section may be released under supervision at any time, must be released under supervision not later than 2 years before expiration of the term imposed by the court, and must be unconditionally discharged on or before expiration of the maximum term imposed. See 18 U.S.C. § 5017(a) and (d)
Although sentences under section 5010(b) may cause some youth offenders to spend more time in YCA commitment than they could have been sentenced to under traditional adult sentencing, the constitutionality of section 5010(b) has been upheld on the theory that "rehabilitation may be regarded as comprising the quid pro quo for a longer confinement but under different conditions and terms than a defendant would undergo in an ordinary prison." Carter v. United States, 306 F.2d 283, 285 (D.C. Cir. 1962) (Warren E. Burger, Cir. J.). See also Caldwell v. United States, 435 F.2d 1079, 1081 (10th Cir. 1970); Brisco v. United States, 368 F.2d 214, 215 (3d Cir. 1966).
There is a conflict as to whether the "setting aside" of the conviction has the effect of expunging it. Compare United States v. McMains, 540 F.2d 387 (8th Cir. 1976) and United States v. Doe, 556 F.2d 391 (6th Cir. 1977) with Doe v. Webster, 606 F.2d 1226 (D.C. Cir. 1979)
The district court noted that this issue was raised in another case arising in the same district. In that case, which is the subject of an unreported opinion, Micklus v. Carlson, et al., No. 77-1070 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 14, 1978), appeal dismissed as moot, 591 F.2d 1336 (3d Cir. 1979), the prisoner was sentenced to five years' imprisonment as an adult for escaping while serving a YCA sentence, the escape sentence to be served consecutive to the YCA sentence. There was no discussion in the district court opinion in the Micklus case of the issue directly before us, the effect of a subsequent adult sentence on the manner in which the YCA sentence must be completed
The majority opinion in Dorzynski v. United States, 418 U.S. at 443, 94 S. Ct. at 3052 held that the sentencing judge need only have "considered the option of treatment under the Act and rejected it." 418 U.S. at 443, 94 S. Ct. at 3053. The four Justices who concurred in the judgment would have required the trial judge to include a statement "which makes clear that he considered the provisions of the Act, weighed the treatment option available, and decided in light of his familiarity with the offender that he would not derive benefit from treatment under the Act" Id. at 453, 94 S. Ct. at 3057
See also In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 532 F.2d 410 (5th Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 924, 97 S. Ct. 324, 50 L. Ed. 2d 292 (1976), where the court affirmed a civil contempt citation which suspended the running of the YCA sentence
See Schultz v. United States, 384 F.2d 374, 375 (5th Cir. 1967); see also Borum v. United States, 409 F.2d 433, 440 (D.C. Cir. 1967), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 916, 89 S. Ct. 1765, 23 L. Ed. 2d 230 (1969) (It is a violation of the constitutional prohibition against defendants being twice punished for the same offense for the sentencing court to clarify its silence as to the type of sentences it imposed by determining they are consecutive); A. Campbell, Law of Sentencing 249-50 (1978) (Where the sentencing court is silent as to whether multiple sentences run consecutively or concurrently, the judicially created "rule of lenity" will be employed to the effect that the sentences will be served concurrently). It has been suggested that "(t)he function of the consecutive sentence should be similar to the function of the sentence imposed on habitual or dangerous offenders," to protect the public from defendants who may pose an unusual risk to their safety. American Bar Association, Project on Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice Standards Relating to Sentencing Alternatives and Procedures § 3.4(c), Commentary at 177 (App. Draft 1968)
Thompson was originally sentenced to a term of eight years under 18 U.S.C. § 5010(c). Since that sentence did not exceed the sentence authorized by law for the offense, this case does not present the fact situation in which a longer confinement under a YCA sentence is upheld under the quid pro quo rationale. See note 2 supra. We do not here consider the effect of a subsequent YCA determination on a youth serving an indefinite sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 5010(b). It is that situation to which the constitutional questions referred to in Judge Adams' dissenting opinion are addressed. Nor can we accept the inference in the dissenting opinion that the absence of YCA segregation constitutes the substitution of "a different and more severe sentence for the prior sentence imposed by the youth offender's first trial judge." At 427. See Meachum v. Fano, 427 U.S. 215, 96 S. Ct. 2532, 49 L. Ed. 2d 451 (1976); Montanye v. Haymes, 427 U.S. 237, 96 S. Ct. 2543, 49 L. Ed. 2d 466 (1976)
Professor Sanford H. Kadish also notes that in the United States, the "discretion of the judge . . . in (sentencing) matters is virtually free of substantive control or guidance," Kadish, Legal Norm and Discretion in the Police and Sentencing Processes, 75 Harv. L. Rev. 904, 916 (1962). We are unwilling to ascribe to the Congress an intent to import, sub silentio, sentencing doctrine contrary to traditional powers of sentencing judges.
418 U.S. at 440 n. 14, 94 S. Ct. at 3051 n. 14.
In N.L.R.B. v. The Catholic Bishops of Chicago, 440 U.S. 490, 99 S. Ct. 1313, 59 L. Ed. 2d 533 (1979), the Supreme Court expressly declined to construe congressional legislation in a manner that could in turn call upon the Court to resolve difficult and sensitive constitutional questions. As the Court declared: "an Act of Congress ought not be construed to violate the Constitution if any other possible construction remains available," id. at 500, 99 S. Ct. at 1318. See The Charming Betsy, 2 Cranch (6 U.S.) 64, 118, 2 L. Ed. 208 (1804)