Court Opinion

ID: 9433336
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:39:53.384918+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:40.711037
License: Public Domain

Justice Souter,
concurring.
I agree with the conclusion that 18 U. S. C. § 3553(e) requires a motion by the Government asking the district court to impose a sentence below the statutory minimum, but I part company with the Court on the characterization of the policy statement numbered §5K1.1, United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual §5K1.1, p. s. (Nov. 1995) (USSG). The text of this policy statement deals with departures from the Guidelines; the best reading of each sentence is that its referent is a Guideline departure, and that neither directly applies to reductions below mandatory mínimums. The Application Notes (which are “the legal equivalent of a policy statement,” USSG § 1B1.7) are where the Sentencing Commission has dealt with sentences below statutory míni-mums. In my view, the Sentencing Commission has discharged its responsibility under 28 U. S. C. § 994(n) by its *132inclusion of the Application Notes, which effectively tell district courts that the policy statement applies as well to motions for reductions below mandatory mínimums. Thus, my disagreement is over the suggestion that the two sentences of §5K1.1 can be treated separately. I would simply say that the Application Notes indicate that §5K1.1 applies to motions under § 3553(e), and leave it at that.