Court Opinion

ID: 9467094
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:38:17.100961+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:09.325553
License: Public Domain

SETH, Chief Judge,
dissenting:
I must dissent from the position of the majority because in my view the absence of a provision for imprisonment requires a departure from the 18 U.S.C. § 1(3) guideline. The comparison to the contempt standards would seem preferable. There is no indication that Muniz v. Hoffman, 422 U.S. 454, 95 S.Ct. 2178, 45 L.Ed.2d 319, was only to apply to large groups. The references in Muniz to the significance of a jail term is the most important aspect of the decision. It does not appear that the Court intended that the wealth or size of the defendant is to be a factor. The references in the majority opinion to the financial condition of the defendant as a problem does not appear to be created by Muniz.
With no imprisonment penalty in the statute before us, an application of 18 U.S.C. § 1(3) does not appear to be realistic. The imprisonment and the fine are of such disproportionate weight that we should not use imprisonment plus fine as a standard. As the Court said in Muniz:
“It is one thing to hold that deprivation of an individual’s liberty beyond a six-month term should not be imposed without the protections of a jury trial, but it is quite another to suggest that, regardless of the circumstances, a jury is required where any fine greater than $500 is contemplated.”
I would thus hold that a jury trial is not required.