Court Opinion

ID: 9494658
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:43:33.775037+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:32.584078
License: Public Domain

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge,
dissenting in part.
This case presents an issue of statutory construction that this court previously had reserved explicitly in United States v. Hartbarger, 148 F.3d 777, 785 n. 8 (7th Cir.1998). In a thoughtful opinion, my colleagues take the view that a conviction for crossburning under 42 U.S.C. § 3631 *952can serve as a predicate felony for application of 18 U.S.C. § 844(h)(Z). Because I believe that this interpretation is contrary to the plain text of the statutory provisions, I respectfully part company from my colleagues on this issue.
I begin with a point of agreement between my colleagues and myself. It is quite clear that Congress intended that § 844(h)(Z) be given a broad reading. The text of the statute requires its application, and the consequent imposition of a consecutive sentence, on a person who “uses fire or an explosive to commit any felony.” 18 U.S.C. § 844(h)(Z). To -emphasize its intended scope, the text makes clear that the term “felony” includes any felony “which provides for an enhanced punishment if committed by the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon or device.” Id. § 844(h).
At this point, then, we must turn to § 3681 and determine whether it can serve as a predicate for the operation of § 844(h)(Z). Section 3631 proscribes a broad range of discriminatory activity and, consequently, also prescribes a variety of penalties that depend on Congress’ estimation of the gravity of the particular criminal activity committed. The baseline incarceration penalty is for a term of one year. See 42 U.S.C. § 3631. Only if bodily injury results or if the acts include the use, attempted use or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire does the permitted incarceration penalty rise above the one year limitation. See id. In short, Congress determined that the use of fire was a factor that made the perpetrator a felon and deserving of a greatly enhanced punishment.
We therefore are faced with the issue of whether Congress, in enacting § 844(h)(Z), intended to impose a second enhancement for the same act — the use of fire. Here, the plain text of the statute supplies the answer. Congress explicitly determined that this enhancement was to be imposed on a person who used fire or an explosive to commit a felony, “including a felony which provides for an enhanced punishment if committed by the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon or device.”. 18 U.S.C. § 844(h). Notably, Congress did not include in this latter phrase felonies committed by the use of fire. This omission cannot be considered an oversight. Congress clearly knows how to distinguish “fire” from “dangerous weapon or device.” Indeed, the very portion of § 3631 at issue in this case makes that distinction. The natural reading of § 844(h)(i) is that, although Congress wanted the enhanced penalty to apply when the felony already had been increased because it involved a deadly or dangerous weapon or device, it did not intend for this enhancement to apply when the criminal activity was caused by fire.
The language employed by Congress in the initial sentence of § 844(h)(i) is also important. The statutory language is aimed at a person who “uses fire or an explosive to commit any felony which may be prosecuted in a court of the United States.” 18 U.S.C. § 844(h)(Z). This language is most naturally read as requiring the enhancement when fire is used in the commission of a crime whose felonious nature is not dependent on the use of fire. Such a reading would certainly be in keeping with Congress’ manifest intent to increase the punishment when a crime is committed using a means — fire or an explosive — that increases substantially the probability of death or injury. In the case of acts in violation of § 3631, however, there is no pre-existing felony. Rather, it is the use of fire that causes the activity to be felonious. In short, Congress already has provided for the increased dangerousness by the imposition of the enhancement. In effect, § 3631 makes it a felony, punishable by a maximum sentence of ten years, to intimidate a person on the grounds set *953forth in the statute through the use of fire. That felony is committed only when fire is used; intimidation without the fire (or another implement named in the statute) is a misdemeanor offense.
Resort to the elements test enunciated in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932), is inappropriate in this situation because the statutory language is clear. We must remember that, even when the elements of the offenses are different, Congress may have intended that cumulative punishments were not desirable. See Whalen v. United States, 445 U.S. 684, 693 n. 7, 100 S.Ct. 1432, 63 L.Ed.2d 715 (1980).
Reasonable people can differ in their estimation of the wisdom of Congress in setting the penalties of § 3631. A straightforward reading of the text of the two statutory sections requires, however, that we hold that the enhancement contained in § 844(h)(Z) does not apply to the defendant in this case.