Opinion ID: 200587
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standard of Review: Effect of the PROTECT Act

Text: On April 30, 2003, certain provisions of a new statute affecting the courts of appeals' review of sentencing provisions became effective. The PROTECT Act changes the applicable standard of review on certain issues in appeals from departures from the sentencing guidelines. Section 401 of the PROTECT Act amends 18 U.S.C. § 3742(e), which now reads: (e) Consideration. -- Upon review of the record, the court of appeals shall determine whether the sentence -- . . . . (3) is outside the applicable guideline range, and We have a situation here where coconspirator Isola, the president of Damon and the architect, at least the prime architect of this conspiracy, received a sentence of three years' probation, and it is, in my judgment, a violation of the fundamental purpose of the Sentencing Commission Guidelines to impose a sentence which is not at least somewhat similar to that incurred by a coconspirator who was more involved in the conspiracy t[h]an this defendant. -41- (A) the district court failed to provide the written statement of reasons required by section 3553(c); (B) the sentence departs from the applicable guideline range based on a factor that --
forth in section 3553(a)(2); or
3553(b); or
this case; or (C) the sentence departs to an unreasonable degree from the applicable guidelines range, having regard for the factors to be considered in imposing a sentence, as set forth in section 3553(a) of this title and the reasons for the imposition of the particular sentence, as stated by the district court pursuant to the provisions of section 3553(c); . . . . . . . . The court of appeals shall give due regard to the opportunity of the district court to judge the credibility of the witnesses, and shall accept the findings of fact of the district court unless they are clearly erroneous and, except with respect to determinations under subsection (3)(A) or (3)(B), shall give due deference to the district court's application of the guidelines to the facts. With respect to determinations under subsection (3)(A) or (3)(B), the court of appeals shall review de novo the district court's application of the guidelines to the facts. (emphasis added). This changed the prior law. Under Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81 (1996), the appellate courts were not to review a departure decision de novo, but were to ask whether the sentencing -42- court abused its discretion.16 Id. at 91, 96-100. Where a district court grants a departure, we have, before the PROTECT Act, engaged in a three-part review: (1) we determine whether the stated ground for departure is theoretically permissible under the guidelines; (2) if so, we examine the record to assess whether there is adequate factual support; and (3) we determine the appropriateness of the degree of departure. United States v. Bogdan, 302 F.3d 12, 16 (1st Cir. 2002). Whether a stated ground for departure was theoretically permissible (part (1)) was a question of law reviewed de novo. United States v. Bradstreet, 207 F.3d 76, 81 (1st Cir. 2000); cf. United States v. Diaz, 285 F.3d 92, 98-99 (1st Cir. 2002) (We review de novo whether the district court utilized a proper basis for [an upward] departure.). Under Koon, we then reviewed the remaining two parts for abuse of discretion. See Koon, 518 U.S. 96-100; United States v. Lujan, 324 F.3d 27, 31 n.5 (1st Cir. 2003); United States v. Martin, 221 F.3d 55 (1st Cir. 2000). The courts of appeals are now charged with de novo review of the second issue: whether the facts are exceptional (or outside 16 Before Koon was decided in 1996, the rule in this circuit was that we would review de novo whether, taking the reasons for departure stated by the district court at face value, those reasons will as a matter of law justify abandonment of the guidelines. United States v. Wogan, 938 F.2d 1446, 1447 (1st Cir. 1991). We point this out because Thurston's fraudulent conduct took place before Koon and when this court used a de novo standard of review, as is now mandated by the PROTECT Act. -43- the heartland), thus warranting consideration of a departure. Congress requires the courts of appeals to consider whether a sentence that departs from the applicable guideline range is based on a factor that: (i) does not advance the objectives set forth in section 3553(a)(2); or (ii) is not authorized under section 3553(b); or (iii) is not justified by the facts of the case[.] 18 U.S.C. § 3742(e)(3)(B). Thurston argues that the PROTECT Act should not be interpreted to apply to this case and that, if it did apply, it would be retroactive and invalid. He makes two statutory intent arguments: (1) that the internal structure of the statute means it should not be applied to cases already pending on appeal; and (2) that the presumption against retroactivity should apply. First, Thurston argues that Congress meant application of the de novo review provisions in the PROTECT Act to be deferred until appeals arise from sentences entered after the Act became effective. This is evident, Thurston says, since the Act imposed a new requirement for the district judge to give a written statement of reasons. From this, Thurston argues, all provisions of the Act were meant to apply only to post-Act sentencing. The argument is plausible, but we are unpersuaded. Even before the PROTECT Act, a trial court was required to give some reasons, though not necessarily in writing, for a downward departure. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c) (2000) (pre-PROTECT Act version); United States -44- v. Sclamo, 997 F.2d 970, 973 (1st Cir. 1993) (discussing discouraged ground for departure); United States v. DeMasi, 40 F.3d 1306, 1324 (1st Cir. 1994) (same). A requirement that this statement of reasons be written, rather than oral, has no particular connection to the appellate standard of review. Although the Act does not expressly say that its de novo review provision applies to pending appeals, it does give an effective date of April 30, 2003. The effective date of a statute does not by itself establish that it has any application to conduct that occurred at an earlier date. See INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 317 (2001) (quoting Landgraf v. USI Film Prods., 511 U.S. 244, 257 (1994)). Still, we agree with the Eighth Circuit that the new statute applies to appeals pending as of the effective date of the statute. See United States v. Aguilar-Lopez, 329 F.3d 960, 962-63 (8th Cir. 2003). Subject to constitutionally-based retroactivity concerns, it is certainly within Congress's power to change a standard of review. See, e.g., Hines v. Sec'y of Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 940 F.2d 1518, 1523 (Fed. Cir. 1991); Consumers Union of U.S. v. FTC, 801 F.2d 417 (D.C. Cir. 1986); cf. Bierce v. Waterhouse, 219 U.S. 320, 336-37 (1911). Much of the conduct regulated by this part of the PROTECT Act is that of the courts of appeals (and indirectly, the district courts now under closer scrutiny), and that involves conduct dating from April 30, 2003 forward. -45- Thurston's fall-back argument is that applying a changed standard of review to a case already on appeal would have an impermissible effect on him under the Supreme Court's retroactivity jurisprudence. See Landgraf, 511 U.S. at 264. Not so. The change of a standard of appellate review is one in procedure for the courts; procedural changes that do not affect substantial rights are not usually considered retroactive. This legislation is little different than the Supreme Court's changing the standard of review by directing the courts of appeals to decide ultimate Fourth Amendment questions by de novo review. See Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 697 (1996). When the Supreme Court applies a rule of federal law to the parties before it, that rule is the controlling interpretation that must be applied retroactively to all criminal cases on direct review. See Harper v. Va. Dep't of Taxation, 509 U.S. 86, 95 (1993) (citing Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 322 (1987)). Changing the appellate standard of review, as done here, could upset no legitimate reliance interest by a defendant,17 could not have induced alteration of the behavior that led to the crime, and could not have upset settled expectations. We see no unfairness to defendants in Congress's requiring a closer look by appellate courts at whether a district court committed an error in deciding that the guidelines permitted a departure. It is 17 In Thurston's case, there could be no reliance interest in any event, since this court used a de novo standard of review at the time he committed the crime. -46- the substance of the sentencing rules, both Guidelines and statutory, that impacts defendants. Thurston makes a cursory argument that the PROTECT Act presents serious constitutional separation-of-powers questions. At the request of the Senate, the Chief Justice, expressing the views of the U.S. Judicial Conference, did advise the Senate of the Conference's opposition to portions of the bill, including alteration of the standard of review. See Letter from Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to Senator Patrick Leahy (undated), available at http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/2cdd02b415ea 3a64852566d6000daa79/departures/$FILE/Rehnquist_letter.pdf. The U.S. Sentencing Commission requested that Congress not act until the Commission had the opportunity to analyze data and study the matter. See Letter from Judge Diana Murphy, Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, et al. to Senators Orrin Hatch and Patrick Leahy (April 2, 2003), available at http://www.nacdl.org/ public.nsf/2cdd02b415ea3a64852566d6000daa79/departures/$FILE/stcg _comm_current.pdf. But judicial opposition to legislation on policy grounds is one thing, and unconstitutionality of the legislation is another. No real theory of unconstitutionality has been presented by this appeal, and so the issue is waived. See United States v. Zannino, 895 F.2d 1, 17 (1st Cir. 1990). -47-