Court Opinion

ID: 9469296
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:36:40.663009+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:19.051249
License: Public Domain

ADAMS, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I agree with the majority that this case is factually distinguishable from United States v. Pinto, 646 F.2d 833 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 816, 102 S.Ct. 94, 71 L.Ed.2d 85 (1981), and hence that the conduct at issue here falls within the ambit of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(b). I therefore join in Judge Sloviter’s opinion, but write separately simply to reiterate my belief that the Pinto decision posited a “crabbed and unrealistic interpretation” of section 2113(b) that will lead, as it has here, to minute— and ultimately unsatisfying — distinctions between cases. See United States v. Pinto, 673 F.2d 74 (3d Cir. 1981) (sur denial of petition for rehearing en banc). When strained interpretations of the criminal law produce results understandable neither by the public, nor, indeed, by judges themselves, they subvert rather than enhance respect for the justice system. Accordingly, I continue to believe Pinto should be overruled at the first opportunity.