Court Opinion

ID: 9495266
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:58:17.044549+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:54.591548
License: Public Domain

BRIGHT, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I have written many times about the unfair, overlong prison sentences meted out under the Sentencing Guidelines. See e.g., United States v. Baker, 961 F.2d 1390, 1393 (8th Cir.1992) (Bright, J., concurring) (“This case is another example of rigid guidelines producing inequity and injustice in sentencing, and demonstrates a need for reformation, if not the abolishment, of Guideline sentencing.”); United States v. England, 966 F.2d 403, 410-11 (8th Cir.1992) (Bright, J., concurring) (noting and estimating the costs, in both human suffering and wasted tax dollars, of the lengthy prison terms required under the guidelines); United States v. Stockton, 968 F.2d 715, 721 (8th Cir.1992) (Bright, J., concurring) (“[T]his sort of massively heavy punishment cannot be justified in a civilized society, unless there is a showing that lengthy incarcerations protect society from incorrigible and continuing criminals. No such showing has been made in this case.”).
Here we have another example of an application of the Sentencing Guidelines resulting in an exceedingly lengthy sentence for a relatively minor player in a drug conspiracy. See United States v. Griffin, 17 F.3d 269, 274 (8th Cir.1994) (“What kind of a criminal justice system rewards the drug kingpin or near-kingpin who informs on all the criminal colleagues he or she has recruited, but sends to prison for years and years the least knowledgeable or culpable conspirator, one who knows very little about the conspiracy and is without information for the prosecutors?”).
David Gelinas received a three-level adjustment under U.S.S.G. § 3Bl.l(b) because he was a “manager or supervisor” of a criminal conspiracy to distribute 1000 grams or more of methamphetamine. At sentencing, the district court determined that Gelinas has a category II criminal history, and the offense level was 37, resulting in a sentencing range of 235-293 months. The court imposed a sentence of 240 months. Without the three-level increase, Gelinas’ possible sentencing range would have been 168 to 210 months.
Even though the district court acknowledged at sentencing that Gelinas’ “role is somewhat limited,” the court still found that the government presented enough evidence to warrant the § 3Bl.l(b) adjustment. The end result is that a forty-seven-year-old man has been sentenced to twenty years imprisonment while others facing the same charges received considerably lesser sentences. The government indicted Gelinas with two other men, both of whom pleaded guilty; one received a ninety-seven-month sentence and the other received a seventy-eight-month sentence.
There is something wrong when this type of inequity becomes a common part of our criminal justice system. See United States v. Griffin, 17 F.3d 269, 273-75 (8th Cir.1994) (Bright, J., dissenting) (discussing the myth of consistency in sentences and lengthy sentences meted out to people with no criminal history points or those who commit nonviolent crimes). Again, I reiterate my call for abolishing or radically changing the Sentencing Guidelines and *981adopting a more fair and just system. See e.g., United States v. England, 966 F.2d 403, 411 (8th Cir.1992) (Bright, J., concurring) (“In too many instances, the sentences directed by the guidelines waste the lives of men and women.... It is time for a re-evaluation and change.”) (emphasis in original); see also United States v. Chavez, 230 F.3d 1089, 1093 (8th Cir.2000) (Bright, J., concurring) (“ ‘Is anyone out there listening?’ If not, isn’t it about time?”).