Opinion ID: 497978
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Cross-Appeal--Denial of Forfeiture Under Section 1963(a)(2)

Text: 33 The government cross-appeals the district court's denial of forfeiture pursuant to section 1963(a)(2) 5 of Horak's stockholdings in Waste. At the outset there is a serious question of our jurisdiction to hear an appeal by the government in these circumstances. 34 The government asserts that we have jurisdiction based on either of two grounds: first, pursuant to section 3731 of the criminal code, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3731, 6 which defines certain rights of appeal in criminal cases, and second, pursuant to section 1651 of the civil code, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1651(a), 7 which authorizes the issuance of writs of mandamus to the district court. Horak argues that jurisdiction of the appeal is barred by double jeopardy and, in the alternative, is not available either under section 3731 or under section 1651. We conclude that, although the double jeopardy clause in and of itself does not bar the government's appeal, jurisdiction does not lie under section 3731 and we decline to invoke our discretionary power to issue a writ of mandamus. 35 It is well settled that the government has no authority to take an appeal in a criminal case without an express grant of power by Congress. United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 568, 97 S.Ct. 1349, 1352, 51 L.Ed.2d 642 (1977); United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 336, 95 S.Ct. 1013, 1018, 43 L.Ed.2d 232 (1975); United States v. Sanges, 144 U.S. 310, 318, 12 S.Ct. 609, 612, 36 L.Ed. 445 (1892). The government in the present case contends that section 3731 does expressly grant authority to appeal the district court's denial of section (a)(2) forfeiture. 36 The language of the statute itself, however, seems to contradict the government's position. The applicable paragraph of section 3731 provides that the government can appeal in two circumstances: 1) upon the dismissal of an indictment or information or a count thereof, and 2) upon the granting of a new trial as to one or more counts after verdict or judgment. The government urges that the district court's denial of forfeiture of Horak's stock under section 1963(a)(2) is in effect a partial dismissal of an indictment. The government offers no authority for its assertion that an order denying one portion of a forfeiture request following a forfeiture hearing is, for purposes of appeal under section 3731, the functional equivalent of a dismissal of the corresponding count of the indictment. 37 We acknowledge that the Ninth Circuit has held that it had jurisdiction, under section 3731, to review a district court's dismissal of a portion of a count demanding forfeiture of contract income pursuant to section 1963(a)(1). United States v. Marubeni, 611 F.2d 763, 764-65 (9th Cir.1980). The trial court ruling that was affirmed there, however, was made before trial purely on grounds of legal insufficiency. The district court ruling was thus obviously closer in substance and form to the dismissal of an indictment than Judge Norgle's determination here. The Second Circuit similarly has allowed a government appeal from the dismissal of a portion of an indictment, but only when the trial court's ruling '... strike[s] from the case an independent basis of liability.'  United States v. Tom, 787 F.2d 65, 70 (2d Cir.1986) (quoting United States v. Margiotta, 662 F.2d 131, 141 (2d Cir.1981)). In the present case, the denial of part of a forfeiture request is in our view not a determination of a basis of liability but only a finding on the availability of a penalty. 38 Even if the government's request for stock forfeiture here involved in effect one portion of one count of an indictment, the court's order was not a dismissal of it. Of course, the mere label attached to a trial court order cannot determine its appealability under section 3731. United States v. Tranowski, 702 F.2d 668, 670 (7th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 468 U.S. 1217, 104 S.Ct. 3586, 82 L.Ed.2d 884 (1984). In Tranowski, this court allowed the government to appeal the district court's denial of a motion to retry the defendant following reversal of his conviction. We reasoned that such an appeal does not offend the double jeopardy clause and thus is permitted under section 3731, because the motion preceded any trial on remand. Id. We noted also that a judgment ... 'tantamount to a dismissal of an indictment,' [is] appealable under section 3731, though not labeled a 'dismissal.'  Id. (quoting United States v. Esposito, 492 F.2d 6, 10 (7th Cir.1973), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1135, 94 S.Ct. 879, 38 L.Ed.2d 760 (1974)). 39 An analysis of the course of proceedings here reveals that the district court's order denying forfeiture of the Waste stock is not analogous to a dismissal of an indictment. In the present case, the government alleged, in a portion of one count, that Horak's stock in Waste was subject to forfeiture pursuant to 1963(a)(2). Horak moved to dismiss the indictment on various theories, one of which was that the government had failed to state a basis for forfeiture of the stock. In its pre-trial ruling, the court found that, although the government alleged that the Waste stock was subject to forfeiture because it afforded Horak a source of influence over the corporation, the government did not explain the kind or extent of [Horak's] influence. The court reserved this issue. 40 Following trial on the merits, the jury returned a guilty verdict. In a subsequent proceeding, the trial judge considered both oral argument and briefs on the government's request for forfeiture. The government argued that the stock's voting characteristic afforded Horak a source of influence over the enterprise. The court found that this alone was insufficient and held that the government had failed to prove a basis for forfeiture. The district court's order at the post-trial forfeiture proceeding was based on its finding of fact that Horak had no influence over the Waste enterprise. This is not tantamount to the dismissal of an indictment, or a portion of a count of an indictment, and does not conform to the language of section 3731. 8 41 The government contends in the alternative, however, that the RICO forfeiture ruling is essentially a sentencing order, appealable under section 3731 so long as it does not offend the double jeopardy clause. Horak responds in two ways. First, the double jeopardy clause precludes appeal of the forfeiture order, which amounts to an acquittal as to forfeiture of the stock. Alternatively, section 3731 does not authorize appeals from sentences. 42 We agree that the forfeiture order is part of the determination of Horak's sentence rather than a finding of his guilt or innocence. United States v. Ginsburg, 773 F.2d 798, 801 (7th Cir.1985) (en banc) (RICO forfeiture is a punishment imposed on a guilty defendant.), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1011, 106 S.Ct. 1186, 89 L.Ed.2d 302 (1986); see also United States v. Godoy, 678 F.2d 84, 87-88 (9th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 959, 104 S.Ct. 390, 78 L.Ed.2d 334 (1983). 43 Although the Supreme Court has not ruled whether an appeal of a forfeiture order would offend constitutional guarantees against double jeopardy, we believe, based on United States v. DiFrancesco, 449 U.S. 117, 101 S.Ct. 426, 66 L.Ed.2d 328 (1980), that such an appeal would survive double jeopardy attack. In DiFrancesco, the Court held that the government's statutory right to appeal from an imposition of a sentence under the dangerous special offender provisions, 18 U.S.C. Secs. 3575, 3576, did not involve double jeopardy. The Court rejected the argument that the imposition of the sentence is an 'implied acquittal' of any greater sentence. Id. at 133, 101 S.Ct. at 435. The Court emphasized that if a Government Appeal presents no threat of successive prosecutions, the Double Jeopardy Clause is not offended. Id. at 132, 101 S.Ct. at 434 (quoting Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. at 569-70, 97 S.Ct. at 1353-54). Although the forfeiture proceeding here, unlike most sentencing proceedings, involves formal determinations of fact, we do not believe that a remand would necessarily require the district court to engage in further fact-finding. Although there are strong arguments for applying the double jeopardy bar to certain kinds of sentencing proceedings, 9 see DiFrancesco, 449 U.S. at 143, 101 S.Ct. at 440 (Brennan, J., dissenting); id. at 152, 101 S.Ct. at 445 (Stevens, J., dissenting), these views have not prevailed. 44 But, even if the double jeopardy clause alone does not preclude the government's appeal, the application of section 3731 to this forfeiture order is in question. We reject the government's reliance on sweeping language of the Supreme Court that section 3731 authorizes appeals whenever constitutionally permissible. Wilson, 420 U.S. at 338-39, 95 S.Ct. at 1019; see also Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. at 568, 97 S.Ct. at 1353. Although the Wilson Court recited in some detail the legislative history of section 3731 as support for its conclusions, the extremely broad reading of the statute urged by the government was unnecessary to the Wilson decision. For in Wilson the government had appealed a district court order actually dismissing an indictment. Thus, section 3731's requirements were squarely met and the government's appeal was clearly authorized unless it violated Wilson's rights under the double jeopardy clause. 45 We, of course, carefully weigh the Wilson court's explication of the legislative history and its statement that section 3731 was intended to grant authority to appeal all decisions that terminated a prosecution up to the limits of double jeopardy. 420 U.S. at 338, 95 S.Ct. at 1019. But denying a forfeiture request is quite different from terminating a prosecution. 46 Courts faced with government appeals in criminal cases are struggling to reconcile the specific language of section 3731 with the broad language of the Supreme Court. With respect to the appealability of sentencing orders under section 3731, the courts of appeals are divided. Some circuits, relying on Wilson and finding no double jeopardy bar, are reviewing such orders. See, e.g., United States v. Edmonson, 792 F.2d 1492, 1496 (9th Cir.1986), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 892, 93 L.Ed.2d 844 (1987); United States v. Wright Contracting Co., 728 F.2d 648, 650 (4th Cir.1984); United States v. Prescon Corp., 695 F.2d 1236, 1240-41 (10th Cir.1982); Godoy, 678 F.2d at 87-88. 47 We, however, believe that other circuits that have taken a more restrictive view of the appealability of sentencing orders under section 3731 have a more persuasive position. For example, in United States v. Ferri, 686 F.2d 147, 150-51 (3d Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1211, 103 S.Ct. 1205, 75 L.Ed.2d 446 (1983), the court found that section 3731 did not authorize an appeal from a district court order reducing a sentence because such an order is not mentioned specifically by the statute. More recently the same court, in Government of the Virgin Islands v. Douglas, 812 F.2d 822, 829 (3d Cir.1987), relied on Ferri to conclude that it had no jurisdiction under section 3731 to review a district court's failure to impose two sentences consecutively. 48 The Fifth Circuit, in United States v. Denson, 588 F.2d 1112, 1125-26 (5th Cir.), aff'd in part and modified in part, 603 F.2d 1143, 1145 (1979) (en banc), held that the government could not rely on section 3731 as authority to take a direct appeal from an allegedly illegal sentence. The Denson court, comparing the words of the statute with those of the Wilson Court, reasoned: 49 Section 3731 cannot be construed to authorize a government appeal from any and every District Court order. To so construe Section 3731 would do violence to Congress' express intention to carefully identify and define the situations in which the Government might appeal. We agree with counsel for the Government, who quite candidly admitted at oral argument that these judgments are in no material way even related to the types of orders set out in Section 3731. 50 588 F.2d at 1125-26. The Eleventh Circuit subsequently adopted the Denson decision. United States v. Cannon, 778 F.2d 747, 748 (11th Cir.1985) (appeal is [not] the appropriate procedure for correction of an illegal sentence); United States v. Dean, 752 F.2d 535, 540 n. 12 (11th Cir.1985) (Denson forecloses any possible contention that 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3731 authorizes a governmental appeal in the instant case.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 97, 93 L.Ed.2d 48 (1986). 51 The Eighth Circuit, although allowing appeal of a sentence reduction pursuant to section 1291, explicitly refused to find such authority under section 3731. United States v. DeMier, 671 F.2d 1200, 1204 n. 12 (8th Cir.1982) (We do not read Sec. 3731 to encompass the instant appeal, and do not rely on it for our appellate jurisdiction.). 10 52 Finally, we note that at the time Horak was sentenced, section 3576 of the Criminal Code explicitly allowed the government to appeal sentences imposed under the dangerous special offenders provision, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3575. 11 We believe that the combined presence of sections 3576 and 3731, both enacted by Congress in 1970, support our conclusion that government appeals of sentencing orders are not authorized under section 3731. Both provisions describe in careful detail the circumstances under which the government may seek review of a judgment in a criminal case. Neither provision grants to the United States a general right to appeal any and all sentencing orders. Moreover, if Congress had intended section 3731 to authorize appeals from sentencing decisions, it would not have been necessary for it to expressly grant the right to appeal a single type of sentence--that imposed upon a dangerous special offender--under section 3576. 12 53 Therefore, we agree with other courts that have concluded that Congress in enacting section 3731 did not intend to authorize government appeals of all final sentencing decisions where there was no double jeopardy bar. Among the reasons we have cited for this conclusion, the particular language of the statute is most compelling. We therefore conclude that the order denying the stock forfeiture request here may not be appealed by the government. 54 At this point, we must consider our power to issue a writ of mandamus to the district court. We have described the writ of mandamus as an extraordinary remedy reserved for extreme situations. Rohrer, Hibler & Replogle, Inc. v. Perkins, 728 F.2d 860, 863 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 890, 105 S.Ct. 265, 83 L.Ed.2d 201 (1984); J.H. Cohn & Co. v. American Appraisal Assocs., 628 F.2d 994, 997 (7th Cir.1980); see also United States v. Dorfman, 690 F.2d 1217, 1224 (7th Cir.1982) (This Court has repeatedly emphasized its reluctance to resort to the extraordinary remedy of mandamus, having reserved it for the most exceptional cases.). The writ traditionally is available only to confine an inferior court to a lawful exercise of its prescribed jurisdiction or to compel it to exercise its authority when it is its duty to do so. Roche v. Evaporated Milk Ass'n, 319 U.S. 21, 26, 63 S.Ct. 938, 941, 87 L.Ed. 1185 (1943); see Will v. United States, 389 U.S. 90, 95, 88 S.Ct. 269, 273, 19 L.Ed.2d 305 (1967); Oswald v. McGarr, 620 F.2d 1190, 1195 (7th Cir.1980). 55 The government contends that the district court exceeded its authority by finding facts that required an order of forfeiture of the Waste stock pursuant to section (a)(2), but in declining, in spite of its finding, to order forfeiture. Horak argues that we should not issue the writ because we would thereby circumvent the limitations of section 3731 and because even an erroneously reasoned district court order should stand if any theory of law can justify it. 56 Presumably, we have jurisdiction under section 1651 to issue the writ. See Ferri, 686 F.2d at 152. However, we are mindful of the demanding standard that must be met before exercising that jurisdiction: 57 [I]t is clear that only exceptional circumstances amounting to a judicial usurpation of power will justify the invocation of this extraordinary remedy. ... And the party seeking mandamus has the burden of showing that its right to issuance of the writ is 'clear and indisputable.'  58 Will, 389 U.S. at 95-96, 88 S.Ct. at 273-74 (citations omitted). Of course, a demanding standard is not an impossible standard. See, e.g., In re Moore, 776 F.2d 136, 139-40 (7th Cir.1985) (issuing writ of mandamus directing district court to comply with mandatory rule of criminal procedure); Pepsico, Inc. v. McMillen, 764 F.2d 458, 461 (7th Cir.1985) (issuing writ of mandamus directing district judge to recuse himself). 59 Several courts have concluded that a writ of mandamus properly could issue to direct a district court to resentence a defendant or to order forfeiture. See, e.g., Cannon, 778 F.2d at 748; Dean, 752 F.2d at 545-46; Ferri, 686 F.2d at 152-54; United States v. L'Hoste, 609 F.2d 796, 809-13 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 833, 101 S.Ct. 104, 66 L.Ed.2d 39 (1980); Denson, 603 F.2d at 1145; United States v. Busic, 592 F.2d 13, 26 n. 11 (2d Cir.1978). The font of these holdings seems to be Ex Parte United States, 242 U.S. 27, 42, 37 S.Ct. 72, 74, 61 L.Ed. 129 (1916), where the Supreme Court held that the authority to establish punishment for a crime was a legislative power, and that, in circumstances where a federal court refused to impose a sentence mandated by law, mandamus would issue to compel the court to exercise its discretion within the bounds of the law. Of additional relevance is the holding in Denson, where the court concluded that, if, for example, a district court imposed an illegal sentence, the aggrieved party should be granted the writ [of mandamus] almost as a matter of right. 603 F.2d at 1147; see also Dean, 752 F.2d at 545; L'Hoste, 609 F.2d at 812 (construing 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1963). But see Douglas, 812 F.2d at 832 (denying writ because district court did not violate clear and indisputable legal duty). 60 We recognize that mandamus should not issue as a substitute for appeal or as an avenue to circumvent clear policies limiting appellate review. See Will, 389 U.S. at 96-97. In the context of government appeals in criminal cases, however, these concerns seem to have focused on attempts to procure the writ with respect to interlocutory decisions. In the present case, of course, we do not have an attempt to obtain piecemeal review during a criminal prosecution. We believe, therefore, that we must consider whether the government has shown its clear and indisputable right to issuance of a writ to compel the district court under section (a)(2) to order forfeiture of Horak's stock in Waste. 61 In evaluating whether a writ should issue, two aspects of the district court's denial of (a)(2) forfeiture require attention. First, we must consider whether the district court's construction of section (a)(2) is proper, or at least not indisputably improper. Second, we must consider whether any other grounds may justify the decision not to order forfeiture of the Waste stock. We believe that in the circumstances of this case issuance of the writ is inappropriate. 62 The district court considered the language of section (a)(2) to be ambiguous and, after evaluating the intent of Congress, the policies inherent in the statute, the rule of lenity and the requirements of the Eighth Amendment, the court concluded: 63 [I]n order for the government to prevail on an (a)(2) forfeiture, it must show that each of the four categories of assets have [sic] some connection (a nexus) with the underlying racketeering activity of which a Defendant is convicted ... [by proving] that the relevant category of property provided the Defendant with a source of influence over an enterprise and [that] Defendant has a property interest in that same enterprise. 64 Horak, 633 F.Supp. at 199-200. Although the court found as a fact that Horak's stock in Waste constituted  'interests in' and 'securities of' the enterprise charged in the indictment, Mem. op. at 4 (Sept. 19, 1986), it denied the (a)(2) forfeiture because no evidence showed that Horak's stock afforded him any influence over the operation of Waste, 633 F.Supp. at 200. 65 The government contends that (a)(2) forfeiture was mandatory once the court determined that Horak's stock constituted an interest in or security of an enterprise. Mandamus should issue, according to the government, because the court improperly refused to exercise authority that it had a duty to exercise. Although we think the district court's interpretation of section (a)(2) was probably incorrect, we cannot conclude that it is clear and indisputable that the court erred in declining to order forfeiture of the Waste stock. 66 The government advances several reasons for finding that the district court's reading of section (a)(2) is erroneous. First, the language of section (a)(2) is not ambiguous if we give substantial significance to the placement of commas: the then applicable version of section (a)(2) required forfeiture of a convicted defendant's interest in, security of, claim against, or property or contractual right of any kind affording a source of influence over, an enterprise. The fact that Congress placed no comma after contractual right and did place a comma after influence over is an indication that the phrase of any kind affording a source of influence over modifies only the fourth category listed, namely property or contractual right. As a matter of grammatical logic the government's position is strong. But courts need not let grammar or punctuation be the end-all of issues of statutory construction. See Barret v. Van Pelt, 268 U.S. 85, 91, 45 S.Ct. 437, 439, 69 L.Ed. 857 (1925). The district court considered the government's argument, but reasoned that the limiting phrase more logically should modify all four of the broadly defined categories of (a)(2) than only the last category. 633 F.Supp. at 198. Because the court was able to cite conflicting authorities construing section (a)(2), we find that the government's position is, although persuasive, not indisputable. 67 The government also contends that a subsequent amendment of (a)(2) makes clear that the district court misinterpreted (a)(2). 13 The district court appropriately cited authority holding that in general the views of a subsequent Congress on prior legislation are not to be given great weight. See Russello, 464 U.S. at 26, 104 S.Ct. at 302. Nevertheless, the government properly suggests that when an amendment merely affirms or clarifies the preexisting meaning of a provision, such an amendment is indeed relevant to questions of statutory interpretation. See Ginsburg, 773 F.2d at 803; Brown v. Marquette Savings & Loan Ass'n, 686 F.2d 608, 615 (7th Cir.1982). Again, we find the government's argument persuasive though not indisputable. 68 The government also argues that the structure and purpose of section (a)(2) and RICO require that the court treat (a)(2) forfeiture as mandatory. We acknowledge the far-reaching aims of RICO in general and forfeiture provisions in particular, but we cannot agree that these aims could justify a writ of mandamus ordering the court to reinterpret section (a)(2) in harmony with such general principles. 69 Thus, as to the first area of our inquiry, we find the government's construction of section (a)(2) certainly persuasive although not sufficiently indisputable to demand a writ of mandamus. For, in any event, if Horak were ordered to forfeit his stock in Waste, constitutional questions could be implicated. These issues are of sufficient weight in themselves to convince us that mandamus should not issue here. 70 An order of forfeiture consistent with the government's interpretation of section (a)(2) would reach stock worth approximately $8 million. This forfeiture presumably would comprise punishment for acts of racketeering that won the enterprise a contract worth $700,000 and cost the enterprise (or Horak) some $12,000 in bribe payments. The fact that the stock was an interest in the enterprise may have resulted from the government's amendment of the charges contained in the second superseding indictment. 14 It is at least arguable that disparities in monetary value or prosecutorial caprice in the choice of the enterprise could, in some circumstances, implicate the Eighth Amendment. We are not insensitive to the concern that vast prosecutorial discretion in combination with potentially enormous forfeiture orders might in some circumstances threaten Eighth Amendment rights. See United States v. Littlefield, 821 F.2d 1365, 1368 (9th Cir.1987) (forfeiture ordered pursuant to 21 U.S.C. Sec. 853(a)(2) can implicate Eighth Amendment); United States v. Busher, 817 F.2d 1409, 1413-16 (9th Cir.1987) (remand for forfeiture rehearing in light of Eighth Amendment concerns); United States v. Walsh, 700 F.2d 846, 847 (2d Cir.) (forfeiture reaches all assets of the enterprise except as limited by the Eighth Amendment), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 825, 104 S.Ct. 96, 78 L.Ed.2d 102 (1983). 71 The court in Busher remanded a forfeiture order entered pursuant to section (a)(2) and directed the district court on remand to make a determination, based upon appropriate findings, that the interest ordered forfeited is not so grossly disproportionate to the offense committed as to violate the eighth amendment. 817 F.2d at 1415. The court suggested several factors that should affect an analysis embodying what are admittedly fluid concepts. Id.; see also Littlefield, 821 F.2d at 1368. The Busher case would seem to construe section (a)(2) to require forfeiture of a defendant's entire interest in the enterprise except where the Eighth Amendment prohibits it. See 817 F.2d at 1415 (the district court must avoid unconstitutional results by fashioning forfeiture orders that stay within constitutional bounds). Thus, under this interpretation, the mandatory language of section (a)(2) is intended to reach as far as the Eighth Amendment allows. Such a construction of section (a)(2), which is certainly defensible, gives us pause. 72 Even if the Eighth Amendment concerns were not present, and the government had demonstrated a clear and indisputable right to mandamus, it is important to remember that issuance of the writ is in large part a matter of discretion with the court to which the petition is addressed. Kerr v. United States Dist. Court, 426 U.S. 394, 403, 96 S.Ct. 2119, 2124, 48 L.Ed.2d 725 (1976); Schlagenhauf v. Holder, 379 U.S. 104, 112 n. 8, 85 S.Ct. 234, 239 n. 8, 13 L.Ed.2d 152 (1964); Parr v. United States, 351 U.S. 513, 520, 76 S.Ct. 912, 917, 100 L.Ed. 1377 (1956); see also Whitehouse v. Illinois Cent. R.R. Co., 349 U.S. 366, 373, 75 S.Ct. 845, 850, 99 L.Ed. 1155 (1955) (mandamus is itself governed by equitable considerations and is to be granted only in the exercise of sound discretion); In re Halkin, 598 F.2d 176, 198 (D.C.Cir.1979) (quoting Ex Parte Peru, 318 U.S. 578, 584, 63 S.Ct. 793, 797, 87 L.Ed. 1014 (1943)) (Although mandamus is a common law writ, it may, 'like equitable remedies, ... be granted or withheld in the sound discretion of the Court ....' ). In accordance with such discretion, a court can decide not to issue a writ even though such a writ, if granted, would be proper. Citibank, N.A. v. Fullam, 580 F.2d 82, 90 (3d Cir.1978). 73 We exercise our discretion to decline to issue a writ because we find that Judge Norgle's interpretation of section 1963(a)(2) does not amount to a judicial usurpation of power so as to justify mandamus. See DeBeers Consol. Mines, Ltd. v. United States, 325 U.S. 212, 217, 65 S.Ct. 1130, 1133, 89 L.Ed. 1566 (1945). The district court order did not, for example, violate a mandate of an appellate court, United States v. District Court, 334 U.S. 258, 263-64, 68 S.Ct. 1035, 1037-38, 92 L.Ed. 1351 (1948), or demonstrate persistent disregard of federal rules, La Buy v. Howes Leather Co., 352 U.S. 249, 256-57, 77 S.Ct. 309, 313-14, 1 L.Ed.2d 290 (1957). The government nonetheless contends that the district court did exceed its jurisdiction by refusing to enter the mandatory forfeiture order. The Supreme Court, however, observed that 74 jurisdiction need not run the gauntlet of reversible errors. The ruling on a question of law decisive of the issue ... was made in the course of the exercise of the court's jurisdiction to decide issues properly brought before it. Its decision against petitioner--which we do not pass upon--involved no abuse of judicial power.... 75 Bankers Life & Casualty Co. v. Holland, 346 U.S. 379, 382, 74 S.Ct. 145, 147, 98 L.Ed. 106 (1953) (citations omitted). The Court further warned against enlarging the writ of mandamus to actually control the decision of the trial court. Id. at 383, 74 S.Ct. at 148. 76 We find Judge Norgle's reading of the forfeiture provision to involve a question of law, specifically one of statutory interpretation, which, even if erroneous, does not require the issuance of a writ. 77 The Eighth Circuit similarly relied on the Supreme Court's reasoning in Holland to deny a writ of mandamus: 78 The extraordinary writ of mandamus may lie where a district judge usurps power and acts beyond his jurisdiction. But even if the district court may have erred in its construction of [a statute] (which we do not decide), mandamus is not appropriate here.... The mere fact that a court acts erroneously is not usurpation of power. Jurisdiction to decide is jurisdiction to make a wrong as well as a right decision. 79 River Valley, Inc. v. Dubuque County, 507 F.2d 582, 585 (8th Cir.1974) (citations omitted). 80 In light of the statutory and constitutional questions we have noted, this case is inappropriate for a writ of mandamus, which should generally be issued only in cases where doubt has been removed. The evidence that the district court exceeded its authority is not sufficiently clear and indisputable to justify issuance of the writ.