Court Opinion

ID: 9488560
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 12:48:47.93841+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:52:57.642702
License: Public Domain

NORGLE, District Judge,
concurring.
I join the opinion of the court and write to emphasize two points: first, to suggest the dangers of giving excessive weight to and the risk of the application of inferences drawn from general statistics to a specific sentencing decision dealing with life expectancy in federal felonies; second, to review the trial court record of the sentencing judge’s remarks.
Adding to the bramble bush of Federal Sentencing Guidelines interpretation, trial courts are now faced with determining life expectancy when sentencing in certain cases. Judges must be ever conscious of the risks of interpreting statistical information, especially in the absence of expert testimony. Judges exercising the awesome power of long-term sentencing must not lose sight of the individual standing before the court. Our common experiences in life lead us to express concern about the application of the precise classifications mentioned so eloquently by Judge Pos-ner. Will we, for instance, confront longevity issues regarding smokers versus nonsmokers? Will we consider the longevity of federal inmates versus the general population? How will we deal with the longevity of a defendant not of a particular race but of mixed racial heritage? “Because of the risk that the factor of race may enter the criminal justice process, we have engaged in ‘unceasing efforts’ to eradicate racial prejudice from our criminal justice system.” McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279, 107 S.Ct. 1756, 95 L.Ed.2d 262 (1987) (citing Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986)).
Life expectancy computations in multi-de-fendant cases, where the defendants are of varying ages, genders, and races will require great reflection, careful consideration, and significant fact-finding. Numerous cases in the federal courts involve an international clientele. For instance, sentencing foreign nationals who commit crimes in the United States may be complicated. Life expectancy varies from country to country. As demonstrated in the Central Intelligence Agency’s The World Factbook, the life expectancies differ greatly:

1990-1995 Projected

Country Average Life Expectancy

Brazil 66.2 years
India 60.4 years
Nigeria 52.5 years
Rwanda 46.2 years
United States 75.8 years
*850The United States Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook (1994). Individuals being sentenced for federal felonies will risk exposure to a doubled-edged sword of inferences drawn from general statistics. Should the court apply United States life expectancy tables when sentencing a visiting Rwandan who will serve her time in a federal prison? How about a visiting Brazilian national who commits a federal crime? Though not at issue here, it may indeed be difficult for the trial judge to look at several defendants and justify in the record why a person of one age, gender, national origin, or race will receive more or less prison time in light of inferences drawn from general statistics. The trial court’s articulation of the reasons for a particular sentence involving life expectancy will be of great importance.
In the ease at bar, the defendants are two white male citizens from the same region of the United States. Both received the same sentence. That the sentences are the same, however, does not illustrate the absence of thoughtful imposition of individualized sentences. Indeed, the trial record and the court’s articulation at the sentencing hearing reflect otherwise. The trial court rejected the government’s position that “the court can sentence Mr. Soy to any number of years, if it pleases, as long as the words L-I-F-E aren’t there.” (Re-Sentencing, vol. 15, at 2206.) And “the term of 100 years would be appropriate in this particular case so that as to not allow Mr. Soy ever to return to the streets_” (Re-Sentencing, vol. 15, at 2206.)
The trial court’s rejection, albeit brief, indicated an awareness of the life expectancy issue. The trial court stated:
And unless my mathematics is off, the number of years that I sentenced the defendant was 53 years. Obviously, it is this Court’s feeling that if I give him 100 years that’s beyond life, because I don’t expect him to five 120 years, unless there’s long genes in his family. There’s not very many people that go that far, and the likelihood would be very small.
(Re-Sentencing, vol. 15, at 2211.)
Perhaps the trial judge should have articulated in greater detail what he deemed obvious, because to some the obvious was not. As I see the record, the trial judge may well have done what I and my colleagues would direct, that is, to choose a term of years for a defendant not eligible for a life sentence which is significantly, though not necessarily greatly, less severe than a sentence of life imprisonment. When the trial judge said, “I don’t expect him to live 120 years, unless there’s long genes in his family,” (Re-Sentencing, vol. 15, at 2211) he may have satisfied Judge Posner’s legitimate concern, in which I join, about sentencing a defendant to a term so long that the defendant is certain to die while incarcerated (barring some medical miracle as yet unforeseen). The sentencing judge engaged in a quick but independent reasoning process beyond intuition. The record does not show that the judge sentenced the defendant to a term that would “do the trick.” The undoing here is not the absence of reflection but the brevity of articulation regarding the difference between a life sentence and a sentence for a term of years.
The trial court contemplated the probability of some period of years after the defendants served their time in custody. The judge belabored the record by reading from the printed page all of the conditions of supervised release including reporting to a supervised release officer, working at a lawful occupation, geographical restrictions, submitting written reports within the first five days of each month, and so on. The period of supervised release was five years.
Some might argue that the judge merely met the formalistic requirement of imposing supervised release. Something more from the trial judge on this point might have resolved the issue.
I recognize that life expectancy statistics may serve as a palladium for the statutorily afforded rights of the individual defendants as balanced with the risks to society of early release. I agree with Judge Ripple that on remand the key point is to ensure that the life expectancy of each defendant is appropriately considered by the district court. Aware that Martin stops short of forcing district court judges to use actuarial tables, 63 F.3d at 1434, the trial court in the present *851case may find it difficult to determine a time span in prison which would not extend beyond life expectancy without reference to such information. The experienced trial judge will also have the thoughtful analysis of Martin to assist in articulating more fully his reasoning regarding life expectancy, thus, leaving less to draw by inference from the cold record, as he attempts to carry out the post-parole legislatively enacted sentencing scheme specifically at issue.