Court Opinion

ID: 9459577
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:24:24.077785+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:13.454171
License: Public Domain

FEINBERG, Circuit Judge
(dissenting) :
In March 1969, Wesley Clyde Brown, a young black man, delivered himself of some bitter comments on American society. To this judge, sitting in his quiet chambers, Brown’s words may seem extreme and unwarranted; to some, they may be most offensive. But to none, I submit, should Brown’s strictures justify a two and one-half year jail sentence. Because that is apparently what occurred here, I dissent.
It is essential to put the sentence in this case into perspective. Brown, a teacher and writer, was not yet 24 years old when he wrote the 1969 letter to his draft board, expressing sympathy with point six of the Black Panther Party platform, quoted in the majority opinion. When Brown reappeared in the district court in December 1972 after our remand, he had no criminal record other than his conviction in this case. Up to that time, apparently, he had never engaged in an act of violence, nor had he even been in any serious trouble. Brown came from a good home and had a fine behavior record in school. He frankly admitted his offense, and no one questions that his refusal to report for induction was based on moral grounds. As the majority opinion points out, “the information ... in the presen-tence report and accompanying documents ... is for the most part favorable to Brown.” The judge on resen-tencing also had before him “[a]n impressive array of letters which emphasize [Brown’s] sincerity and talents.” There was not the faintest suggestion from anyone or in any document or report — other than the letter already referred to — that Brown posed a threat of violence to anyone. The majority picks up a statement by Brown to the Probation Officer, whose report of it is quoted in the margin.1 As the pre-sentence report indicates, the context of this remark is that Brown would not serve in the armed forces if '“his conscience would not permit him to .” This, of course, is why he was being sentenced in the first place, after pleading guilty to failure to report for induction. Any graver implication is unwarranted. Moreover, Brown’s conduct, his actual mode of life from March 1969 to January 27, 1972, when he was incarcerated, gave no basis for a belief that he was a threat to society. It is painfully obvious — at least to me— that the judge referred to Brown’s political and social views, as expressed in the *1176letter, when he said that Brown must “take responsibility for saying those words.” The majority agrees that a sentence based on “revulsion arising out of Brown’s social or political views . would be improper.” But apparently that is what happened, and the sentence therefore should not stand.
If there is any doubt about the matter, the judge should at least be required to state his reasons for imposing the same two and one-half year sentence that Brown received before. Such a statement, as the majority points out, would “have removed any lingering doubt” that the judge had acted improperly. Moreover, our own prior decision in McGee v. United States, 462 F.2d 243, 247 (1972), furnishes ample precedent for requiring clarification in this case See also United States v. Tucker, 404 U. S. 443, 447-449, 92 S.Ct. 589, 30 L.Ed.2d 592 (1972); Townsend v. Burke, 334 U. S. 736, 741, 68 S.Ct. 1252, 92 L.Ed. 1690 (1948); United States v. Malcolm, 432 F.2d 809, 819 (2d Cir. 1970). The majority cites these cases but confines them to their own facts; such a narrow construction is unjustified. McGee stands for the proposition — which the other decisions implicitly support — that under some circumstances a sentencing judge may be required to give reasons for his sentence, although this is not ordinarily done. This case is clearly an appropriate instance, since the record certainly suggests that a sentence that we all agree was harsh was imposed for a constitutionally impermissible reason. In a case “not entirely free from doubt,” as the majority puts it, this court should not strain to avoid a strong inference of invalidity; if there was a proper reason for the sentence, the judge should state it.
Accordingly, I would remand for re-sentencing. Alternatively, at the very least, we should require the judge to give “a summary explanation of his reasons” for the sentence. See McGee v. United States, supra, 462 F.2d at 247.

. The pre-sentence report states, under the heading “Defendant’s Statement” : “[H]is obedience to the laws of the land is limited, if these laws conflict with certain of his personal beliefs.”