Court Opinion

ID: 9493124
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 14:58:52.446225+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:55:39.991165
License: Public Domain

FERGUSON, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I agree that Rule 35(c) does not permit a district court to “change its mind about the appropriateness of [a] sentence” that it already imposed on a defendant. Rule 35(c), Advisory Committee Notes (1991 Amendments). I write separately for the limited purpose of highlighting the narrow focus of our holding. In the proceedings below, the district court granted a two level downward departure based on the fact that it would be extremely difficult for Ms. Aguirre’s eight-year-old son to visit her given the absence of a women’s prison facility in the surrounding area. The district court further noted that male prisoners and their families do not confront the same hardships- because there are numerous men’s prisons in the vicinity.
Today, we reverse the two level departure, not because the Sentencing Guidelines preclude it, but rather because the timing and procedures the district court used in granting the departure violated Rule 35(c). We save for another day the issue of whether a district court can grant a downward departure based on the absence of a local women’s prison facility.