Opinion ID: 162392
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: impermissible factors were considered in extent of departure

Text: 36 We reject the district court's degree-of-departure analysis for a second, independent reason: the court's reliance upon impermissible factors to justify its decision to impose a non-incarceration sentence. As noted above, the district court's determination not to imprison Goldberg flowed from its view that Goldberg was a first-time offender, he was unlikely to recidivate, and the crime was not more serious. 3 Each of these rationales is impermissible. 37 The Supreme Court expressly has held that the Guidelines bar sentencing courts from relying as a factor for downward departure upon a defendant's unblemished criminal record and low risk of recidivism, because those factors are fully taken into account in the Guidelines themselves. Koon, 518 U.S. at 111 (quoting 1992 U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3, a provision unchanged in the 2000 U.S.S.G. under which Goldberg was sentenced). Goldberg argues that such a rationale is permissible as a basis for calculating the extent of departure, even if it is impermissible for determining whether to depart. Goldberg offers neither authority nor logical support for this position, and we decline to adopt it. We conclude that the district court abused its discretion when it relied upon Goldberg's perceived low risk of recidivism and his lack of an earlier criminal record as a basis for imposing a non-incarceration sentence. 38 As to the district court's other rationale — the fact that Goldberg neither took pictures nor lured children — Goldberg was sentenced under section 2G2.4, the Guideline provision entitled Possession of Materials Depicting a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct. A separate provision, section 2G2.1, with a base offense level of 27 rather than 15, covers Sexually Exploiting a Minor by Production of Sexually Explicit Visual or Printed Material. Thus, the Guidelines explicitly take into account the factor of taking pictures or luring children into photography by providing for an increase in the offense level from 15 to 27. The heartland for a section 2G2.4 offense is possession of child pornography not involving taking pictures or luring children. Downwardly departing from level 15 because of an absence of those factors is not a permissible basis for imposing a particular lesser sentence, and the district court's conclusion to the contrary was an abuse of discretion. See, e.g., United States v. Grosenheider, 200 F.3d 321, 332 (5th Cir.2000); United States v. Stevens, 197 F.3d 1263, 1270 (9th Cir.1999); United States v. Barton, 76 F.3d 499, 503 (2d Cir.1996). 39 In short, the reasons relied upon by the district court to justify its belief in the desirability of a non-incarceration sentence were impermissible. We do not decide what magnitude of departure the district court could properly have made on these facts, although we note that a departure of eight levels is remarkable and must be reserved for truly extraordinary cases.