Court Opinion

ID: 9497242
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:46:39.163184+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:58:04.922854
License: Public Domain

HANSEN, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring in the judgment and joining in the opinion except as to Part IV.
I readily concur in the judgment and in all of the court’s opinion except for Part IV. I respectfully decline to join Part IV because, in the circumstances of this case, Martin’s right to a jury trial was not violated. I would therefore not render an advisory opinion as to potential constitutional infirmities in theoretical future cases. Further, I am unwilling to assume, as the court apparently does, that the Sentencing Commission has not already considered what effect should be given to a first-tier state court conviction in a two-tier state system. Given the fact that about half of the States employ such a system, I find it hard to believe that the Commission would have overlooked the matter for fifteen years, particularly when it has considered and provided for even more rare events, e.g., tribal, military, and foreign convictions.