Court Opinion

ID: 9439104
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 06:21:22.198155+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:26:09.321673
License: Public Domain

SILBERMAN, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I agree with the majority that the Sentencing Guidelines do not address the question presented — whether a district court may consider a prisoner’s post-conviction conduct when it resentences a prisoner following an appeal. But I do not believe this case is controlled by the standards set forth in Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 116 S.Ct. 2035, 135 L.Ed.2d 392 (1996), that govern guideline departures. But see United States v. Core, 125 F.3d 74 (2d Cir.1997); United States v. Sally, 116 F.3d 76 (3d Cir.1997). I think the very passage of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, which abolished parole and substantially reduced and restructured good behavior adjustments, implicitly precludes a district court from considering post-conviction behavior in imposing sentences. Under that analysis, it would not be permissible for even the Sentencing Commission itself to authorize such a departure.
Congress chose to take account of a defendant’s rehabilitative efforts in a different and more limited way than it had under the parole system. The Bureau of Prisons may award good-time credits to a prisoner who has shown “exemplary compliance with institutional disciplinary regulations,” including progress toward earning a degree. 18 U.S.C. § 3624 (1994). This is just the sort of determination that Rhodes has asked the district court to make, arguing that “he has earned his GED, taken college level courses, consistently received better than average to much better than average work reports, paid the full $150 assessment imposed by the District Court ... completed one drug rehabilitation program ... and taken advantage of every other opportunity for rehabilitation presented to him while incarcerated.” Rather than operating within the framework that Congress has provided, appellant has asked the district court to infringe upon the Bureau’s role. See United States v. Evans, 1 F.3d 654 (7th Cir.1993) (per curiam) (“[I]t is the Bureau of Prisons, not the court, that determines whether a federal prisoner should receive good time credit.”)
One of the primary goals of the Act was to narrow the wide disparity in sentences imposed on similarly situated defendants. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual, ch.l, pt. A, intro, cmt. 3 (1997). To be sure, the Act requires a court to consider the individual circumstances of the defendant as well as the need for uniformity in sentencing. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) (1994). Post-conviction good conduct, however, is not a circumstance particular to appellant. Rhodes will have the chance to secure a downward departure that is unavailable to other prisoners with identical, or even superior, prison records. The Sentencing Reform Act seeks to end the sort of unfairness that results from allowing some defendants to gain consideration that others cannot. When sentencing was almost totally discretionary, some judges relaxed sentences for reasons that others refused even to consider. Rhodes’ position injects the same unfairness back into the process. The line between those who will have the opportunity to make his argument and those who will not is totally random. Only those prisoners who are lucky enough to have a sentencing judge who commits legal error can benefit from their postconviction conduct.
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.