Court Opinion

ID: 9482232
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:44:14.666324+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:51.190433
License: Public Domain

HOLLOWAY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
In my judgment, the district court committed reversible error by imposing an additional term of supervised release following the new 15 month sentence of incarceration, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3). Thus, I respectfully dissent.
This is a matter of first impression in this circuit. To date, only the Ninth Circuit has spoken directly to this question. See United States v. Behnezhad, 907 F.2d 896 (9th Cir.1990).1 Behnezhad held that under § 3583, “a district court is not permitted to revoke a person’s supervised release, order a term of incarceration and then order another term of supervised release.” Id. at 898 (footnote omitted) (emphasis in original). Thus, under the statute’s construction in Behnezhad, the district court erred when sentencing defendant Boling to a new term of supervised release. I am convinced that we should follow the well-reasoned construction of the statute by the Ninth Circuit.
We are aided by settled rules of statutory construction. As we recently stated in Knutzen v. Eben Ezer Lutheran Housing Center,
It is an elementary rule of construction that effect must be given, if possible, to every word, clause and sentence of a statute. A statute should be construed so that effect is given to all its provisions, so that no part will be inoperative or superfluous, void or insignificant, and so that one section will not destroy another unless the provision is the result of obvious mistake or error.
Id., 815 F.2d 1343, 1348 (10th Cir.1987) (quotation marks and citation omitted). Despite this sound principle of giving meaning to “every word,” there is no consideration given in the majority opinion to the small, but critically important word “or” which Congress placed between sub-paragraphs (3) and (4) of § 3583(e).2 To *1465me, the “or” is of paramount importance and it was the insertion of the disjunctive “or” which led the Behnezhad court to conclude that a district court is not empowered to revoke supervised release for a violation of conditions and order imprisonment, and then also impose supervised release thereafter.
That the majority opinion’s interpretation of § 3583 reads the disjunctive “or” out of the statute is made clear by its analysis relying first on the authority conferred by § 3583(e)(3), and then on that given by § 3583(e)(2), and concluding from their join-der that § 3583(e) permits a “combined term of imprisonment plus reimposed supervised release[.]” Majority op. at 1463 (emphasis added). Although the majority purports to “recognize the strong presumption against a conjunctive interpretation of ‘or’ in a criminal statute,” its analysis neither explains why this presumption does not apply here nor does it indicate where, if ever, the presumption would apply. Id. at 1463 (emphasis added). Thus, instead of observing the plain meaning of the disjunctive “or,” that meaning is ignored and the statute is rewritten by the majority to allow sentencing by piecing together power from different subpara-graphs that were obviously written by Congress as alternatives.
In Behnezhad, the defendant had asserted that because the statute separates these subparagraphs by the word “or,” the district court “could not choose part of one alternative and part of another.” Behnezhad, 907 F.2d at 898. Considering this question, the Ninth Circuit observed that § 3583 delineates the options a court has in modifying or revoking supervised release: Subsection (e)(1) permits termination after a year if supervision is no longer needed; (e)(2) permits modification of the length and terms of supervised release at any time before the term expires; and, (e)(3) permits revocation and imprisonment upon finding a violation of the conditions imposed for supervised release. See id. at 898.
Relying on the rule of statutory construction applied in this court’s opinion in United States v. O’Driscoll, 761 F.2d 589, 598 (10th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1020, 106 S.Ct. 1207, 89 L.Ed.2d 320 (1986), the Behnezhad court concluded that the subparagraphs represented independent, alternative sentencing choices available to the court when the conditions of supervised release have been violated. In O’Driscoll, we recognized the “[fjundamental rule[ ] of statutory construction” that:
[wjhen the term “or” is used, it is used in the disjunctive sense unless the legislative intent is clearly contrary.... And in penal statutes the word “or” is seldom used other than as a disjunctive and can never be interpreted as meaning the conjunctive ‘and’ if the effect would be to increase the punishment; the word “or” indicates permissible alternative sentences.
Id. at 597-98 (citations omitted) (emphasis altered). Following this rule, the Behne-zhad court concluded it must “strictly interpret ‘or’ as disjunctive because to do otherwise would generally have the effect of increasing a person’s punishment.” Id. (citing O’Driscoll, 761 F.2d at 598).
In the instant case, as in Knutzen and Behnezhad, “[wje therefore cannot ignore the use of the ‘or’ ” in the statute we here construe, § 3583(e). Knutzen, 815 F.2d at *14661348. Furthermore, as noted in Behnezhad, “there is nothing [in the legislative history of § 3583] that would suggest that we should give the word ‘or’ anything but its natural meaning.” Id., 907 F.2d at 898-99. And I would also agree with the Ninth Circuit that because Congress knew how to expressly give a court the flexibility to reimpose conditional release when § 3583 was enacted, as shown by its treatment of parole violations, we should not assume it did so sub silentio here. See Behnezhad at 899 (examining 18 U.S.C. § 3565).3
I find no justification to reject the sound reasoning of Behnezhad and the rule of construction recognized in our O’Driscoll opinion. The majority relies, first, upon statements by one member of Congress addressing S.1241 (a pending bill which seeks to rectify perceived deficiencies in § 3583), and to a lesser degree, upon the policy statement contained in § 7B1.3(g)(2) of the Sentencing Guidelines. See majority op. at 1461-63. Neither supports ignoring the plain words of § 3583, or abandoning the settled rules of statutory construction.
As to the former, the Supreme Court has recently noted that “it is questionable whether [such views] ... even amount to subsequent legislative history — itself an unreliable guide to legislative intent.” Chapman v. United States, — U.S. —, 111 S.Ct. 1919, 1927 n. 4, 114 L.Ed.2d 524 (1991) (citing Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 566-67, 108 S.Ct. 2541, 2550-51, 101 L.Ed.2d 490 (1988) and Quern v. Mandley, 436 U.S. 725, 736 n. 10, 98 S.Ct. 2068, 2075 n. 10, 56 L.Ed.2d 658 (1978)). And even with the overlap of committee membership and some sponsorship related to § 3583 and S.1241, see majority op. at 1464 n. 1, I believe it is improper to accord such statements weight as legislative history in order to read the word “or” out of the statute.4 Indeed, to my mind, the majority’s use of a proposed amendment to § 3583 to justify adding a new component to defendant Boling’s sentence raises ex post facto concerns that we should not ignore. See generally, Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. 24, 28-31, 101 S.Ct. 960, 963-966, 67 L.Ed.2d 17 (1981) (noting that “[t]he ex post facto prohibition ... forbids the imposition of punishment more severe than the punishment assigned by law when the act to be punished occurred”).5
The majority’s recourse to § 7B1.3(g)(2) is not persuasive. This nonbinding “policy statement,” by itself, does not allow us to ignore the disjunctive structure of § 3583(e). Although the Sentencing Commission’s Commentary to this policy statement contends that § 3583 “neither expressly authorizes nor precludes a court from ordering that a term of supervised release recommence after revocationf,]” id., application note 2, the Commission qualifies its declaration that supervised release can be recommenced with the phrase “to *1467the extent permitted by law[.]”6 Id. Significantly, the Commission implicitly concedes that its interpretation of § 3583 is contingent upon further action by Congress, noting that in the wake of Behne-zhad, it “has transmitted to the Congress a proposal for a statutory amendment to address this issue." Id., application note 3 (emphasis added).
To me, the Behnezhad opinion has adopted the correct reading of § 3583 in concluding that a district court may not “mix and match” between the statute’s alternative subparagraphs. I agree with the Ninth Circuit that the statute is not ambiguous and should be applied as written until changed by Congress. Thus, I would remand with directions that the unauthorized sentence be vacated and that a new sentence be imposed in accord with the views expressed in this dissent.

. Defendant-appellant Boling focuses his appeal on the holding of the Behnezhad opinion:
Mr. Boling contends that the court’s reliance on U.S.S.G. § 7B 1.3(g)(2) to revoke supervised release, impose a sentence of incarceration, and then impose an additional term of supervised release is reversible error of law as provided by 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3). United States v. Behnezhad, 907 F.2d 896 (9th Cir. 1990).
Appellant’s Brief at 4.

. Paragraph (e) of the statute, in full, reads:
(e) Modification of conditions or revocation. — The court may, after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a)(1), (a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), (a)(2)(D), (a)(4), (a)(5), and (a)(6)—
(1)terminate a term of supervised release and discharge the person released at any time after the expiration of one year of supervised release, pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure relating to the modification of probation, if it is satisfied that such action is warranted by the conduct of the person released and the interest of justice;
(2) extend a term of supervised release if less than the maximum authorized term was previously imposed,' and may modify, reduce, or enlarge the conditions of supervised release, at any time prior to the expiration or termination of the term of supervised release, pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure relating to the modification of probation and the provisions applicable to the initial setting of the terms and conditions of post-release supervision;
(3) revoke a term of supervised release, and require the person to serve in prison all or part of the term of supervised release without credit for time previously served on postre-lease supervision, if it finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the person violated a condition of supervised release, pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure that are applicable to probation *1465revocation and to the provisions of applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission, except that a person whose term is revoked under this paragraph may not be required to serve more than 3 years in prison if the offense for which the person was convicted was a Class B felony, or more than 2 years in prison if the offense was a Class C or D felony; or
(4) order the person to remain at his place of residence during nonworking hours and, if the court so directs, to have compliance monitored by telephone or electronic signaling devices, except that an order under this paragraph may be imposed only as an alternative to incarceration.
18 U.S.C. § 3583 (emphasis added).
Because “[wjords are to be interpreted according to the proper grammatical effect of their arrangement within the statute[,J” 3A Sutherland Statutory Construction 208 (4th ed. 1986), Congress' use of the structure: "(1); (2); (3); or (4)” in § 3583(e) requires that we acknowledge the implicit “or” between each sub-paragraph as well as the explicit “or” between the third and fourth subparagraphs.

. The majority’s belief that Congress by way of § 3583(e) has granted federal courts “broad powers and flexibility in administering and overseeing terms of supervised release[,]" majority at 1463, is directly at odds with this court's most recent views of § 3583. See, e.g., United States v. Padilla, 947 F.2d 893, 894 (10th Cir.1991) (noting that federal court sentencing power for supervised release "is constrained by 18 U.S.C. 3583”); United States v. Esparsen, 930 F.2d 1461, 1476-77 (10th Cir.1991) (same). Rather than liberalizing federal court sentencing power, Congress has directed that because Boling breached the conditions of his release by possessing cocaine, his term of supervised release shall be terminated and he must be imprisoned for "not less than one-third of the term of supervised release.” See § 3583(g).

. Indeed, an examination of the text of the proposed bill undermines the majority’s view that S.1241 would only "clarify” what already exists in § 3583. As presently worded in the senate bill, the "or” between the subparagraphs in paragraph (e) is retained — implicitly rejecting the majority’s view that Congress intended that these provisions be "combined [.]” Majority op. at 1463. Rather, S. 1241 adds a completely new section (h), entitled "Supervised Release Following Revocation,” which standing alone, would permit courts to reimpose supervised release following imprisonment for breach of an earlier release. To date, section (h) has not been enacted. Thus, the proper role of the judiciary should not be a race with Congress to amend a federal statute.

. To me it is unpersuasive to use the statement by one senator concerning an amendment to § 3583 which has only passed the Senate but has not been adopted by the Congress to date.

. In fact, the Commission’s view on reimposing supervised release stated in § 7B1.3 appears inconsistent with its declaration that upon finding a violation of release conditions, the court "may continue the defendant on supervised release ..., or revoke supervised release and impose a term of imprisonment." U.S.S.G. ch. 7, Pt. A(b) (1990) (emphasis added).