Opinion ID: 1200361
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Constitutionality of Clearly Improbable Standard

Text: Mr. Idowu next argues that the clearly improbable standard set forth in the application note to section 2D1.1 is unconstitutionally vague. We must reject this contention as well. We explained in United States v. Brierton, 165 F.3d 1133 (7th Cir.1999), that the vagueness doctrine does not apply to the Guidelines: The vagueness doctrine holds that a person cannot be held liable for conduct he could not reasonably have been expected to know was a violation of law. It is well-settled that, as a matter of due process, a criminal statute that fails to give a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice that his contemplated conduct is forbidden by the statute, or is so indefinite that it encourages arbitrary and erratic arrests and convictions is void for vagueness. Colautti v. Franklin, 439 U.S. 379, 390, 99 S.Ct. 675, 58 L.Ed.2d 596 (1979) (internal citations omitted). Certainly, the vagueness doctrine presumes a law that attempts to proscribe or prescribe conduct. We are mindful, however, that unless First Amendment freedoms are implicated, a vagueness challenge may not rest on an argument that the law is vague in its hypothetical applications, but instead the challenger must show that the law is vague as applied to the facts of the case at hand. Chapman v. United States, 500 U.S. 453, 467, 111 S.Ct. 1919, 114 L.Ed.2d 524 (1991). The Guidelines do not establish the illegality of any conduct. Rather, they are directives to judges for their guidance in sentencing convicted criminals, not to citizens at large. United States v. Wivell, 893 F.2d 156, 160 (8th Cir. 1990). In other words, the Guidelines are designed to assist and limit the discretion of the sentencing judge. United States v. Macias, 930 F.2d 567, 571-72 (7th Cir.1991). It is settled that, with the exception of capital cases, a defendant has no constitutional right to such directives. Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 603, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978) (finding that legislatures remain free to decide how much discretion in sentencing should be reposed in the judge or jury in noncapital cases). As such, the Guidelines are not susceptible to attack under the vagueness doctrine. Brierton, 165 F.3d at 1138-39 (parallel citations omitted). However, even if the vagueness doctrine applied to the Guidelines, we could not conclude that the standard set forth in application note 3 to section 2D1.1 is unconstitutionally vague. Courts are accustomed to applying the clear error standard, which requires that an error be clear or apparent in order to be reversed. See, e.g., United States v. Dole, 498 F.3d 604, 608 (7th Cir.2007) (Clear error occurs when after reviewing' the entire evidence, we are left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)). Courts also are familiar with applying probabilities  i.e., determining if it is more likely than not that a certain event occurred. Applying the clearly improbable standard simply requires judges to meld these two concepts. Thus, judges will find that the defendant has rebutted the presumption under application note 3 when the defendant not only has shown that it is improbable that he possessed the weapon in connection with his drug crime, but also that the improbability is apparent to those assessing the factual situation. See United States v. Johnson, 344 F.3d 562, 567 (6th Cir.2003) (The defendant must show, not that there is a possible innocent explanation, nor even that the gun was `probably' not connected to the offense, nor yet that it is `improbable' that the gun was so connected, but, even more, that it was `clearly improbable.' (Emphasis added.)). Because the clearly improbable standard combines two standards with which the federal judiciary already is familiar, it is sufficiently clear to permit courts to apply it in a consistent manner. [2]