Opinion ID: 545175
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Due Process Challenges to the Guidelines

Text: 68 Larry White claims that his sentence under the guidelines violates due process because it requires courts to make findings based on a preponderance of the evidence rather than beyond a reasonable doubt. We have already rejected due process challenges to the guidelines by defendants who have alleged that a judge must have greater sentencing discretion. United States v. Allen, 873 F.2d 963 (6th Cir.1989). The defendant's claim here fares no better. The Supreme Court has specifically rejected the claim that whenever a State links the 'severity of punishment' to 'the presence or absence of an identified fact' the State must prove that fact beyond a reasonable doubt. McMillan v. Pennsylvania, 477 U.S. 79, 84, 106 S.Ct. 2411, 2415, 91 L.Ed.2d 67 (1986) (quoting Patterson v. New York, 432 U.S. 197, 214, 97 S.Ct. 2319, 2329, 53 L.Ed.2d 281 (1977)). It is sufficient that the fact be proved only by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. 477 U.S. at 91-92, 106 S.Ct. at 2418-19; see also United States v. Moreno, 899 F.2d 465 (6th Cir.1990). We see no reason to treat a challenge to the federal sentencing guidelines any differently from a challenge to a state procedure. Accord, United States v. Wilson, 900 F.2d 1350 (9th Cir.1990); United States v. Fredericks, 897 F.2d 490 (10th Cir.1990); United States v. McDowell, 888 F.2d 285, 290-91 (3d Cir.1989); United States v. Guerra, 888 F.2d 247, 250-51 (2d Cir.1989), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 1833, 108 L.Ed.2d 961 (1990); United States v. Urrego-Linares, 879 F.2d 1234, 1237-38 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 346, 107 L.Ed.2d 334 (1989); United States v. Wright, 873 F.2d 437, 441 (1st Cir.1989). Contra, United States v. Davis, 715 F.Supp. 1473 (C.D.Cal.1989). 69