Court Opinion

ID: 9483213
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:14:32.509844+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:29.816513
License: Public Domain

HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
Judge Warren Urbom is one of our most thoughtful and distinguished judges. He clearly believed that a sentence other than the one he imposed would be most appropriate under the circumstances of this case. Judge Urbom did not impose what he thought to be the proper sentence here, however, because he did not believe he had the authority to do so under the sentencing guidelines. In my view, the Sentencing Reform Act grants district judges this authority, and I would remand to permit Judge Urbom to impose the sentence he feels appropriate. Accordingly, I cannot concur in part II.B. of the court’s opinion.
I.
I start, of course, with the enabling statute, the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. There, Congress set forth the factors a sentencing judge must consider when imposing sentence.1 Significantly, the statute *97directs district judges to “impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes set forth in paragraph (2) of the subsection.” The statute then provides that a guidelines sentence is considered appropriate under these principles and must be imposed, but not if:
the court finds that there exists an aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating'the guidelines that should result in a sentence different from that described.
18 U.S.C. § 3553(b) (1988). If the Commission has not “adequately” taken into consideration mitigating or aggravating circumstances present in a case, then the sentencing court must impose an appropriate sentence “having due regard for the purposes set forth” in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2) (1988). Id.
Under the statute, then, district judges must first consider what sentence would best achieve the statutory purposes set forth in section 3553(a): deterrence, incapacitation, the need for treatment and training, and the need for the sentence to reflect the defendant’s circumstances and the circumstances of the crime. After considering these matters, the court must next consider the sentence or sentences recommended by the guidelines. This reading of the statute is consistent with the Senate Report that explains sections 3553(a) and 3553(b):
The bill requires the judge before imposing sentence, to consider the history and characteristics of the offender, the nature of circumstances of the offense, and the purposes of sentencing. He is then to determine which sentencing guidelines apply to the case. Either he may decide that the guideline recommendation appropriately reflects the offense and offender characteristics and impose sentence according to the guideline recommendation or he may conclude that the guidelines fail to reflect adequately a pertinent aggravating or mitigating circumstance and impose sentence outside the guidelines.
S.Rep. No. 98-225, 98th Cong., 2d Sess., reprinted in 1984 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 3182, 3235 (emphasis added). Thus, the district court in each case must look to the “adequacy” of the Commission’s consideration of aggravating or mitigating factors present in each case.
The Sentencing Commission, however, has formulated a set of guidelines instructions different than the process outlined in section 3553(a), and has “seemingly reversed the sentencing sequence intended by Congress.” Marc Miller & Daniel J. Freed, Honoring Judicial Discretion Under the Sentencing Reform Act, 3 Fed. Sentencing Rep. 235-37 (1991). The guidelines set forth a nine-step process for calculating a sentence, but none of these steps require the court to consider the purposes of sentencing or the nature and circumstances of the offense, as set forth in the statute. Compare U.S.S.G. § 1B1.1 (setting forth “application instructions”) to 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)(2). Like Judge Bright of our court and Chief Judge Merritt of the Sixth Circuit, I believe that the Sentencing Commission has misinterpréted the text of the Sentencing Reform Act in its “application instructions” by telling judges they may consider a downward or upward departure only after they have calculated the guidelines range. See United States v. Quarles, 955 F.2d 498, 503-05 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 112 S.Ct. 2285, 119 L.Ed.2d 209 (1992) (Bright, J., concurring and dissenting) (expressing view that the sequence of sentencing steps set forth by Sentencing Commission was incorrect); United States v. Davem, 937 F.2d 1041, 1043-47 (6th Cir.1991), on rehearing, 970 F.2d 1490 (6th Cir.1992). This is no trivial *98matter, because the Sentencing Commission’s process is unduly mechanical and “produces a presumptive sentencing range but ... does not provide a sufficient context in which to consider the facts of the case.” Miller & Freed, supra, at 237.
The present case is a perfect example of how the Commission’s failure to follow the statute has resulted in a sentence that the district court would have found inappropriate had the Commission properly interpreted the statute. Edgar presented an alternative sentencing proposal which, if adopted, would have put Edgar’s expertise in-computers and statistics to work for the Legal Services of Southeast Nebraska and the Nebraska State Bar Association Pro Bono Program. Under his proposal, Edgar would have developed a case management system for these organizations either while on probation or while serving a ten-month split sentence. Judge Urbom stated that .he thought the proposal was “excellent,” and that Edgar was not one of the people who should be in prison for the safety of society, for punishment, or for deterrence. Although he did not refer to section 3553(a)(2), Judge Urbom plainly considered the factors set forth there and concluded that an alternative to prison would be the best sentence in Edgar’s case. If Judge Urbom had been able to follow the sequence anticipated by Congress, he probably would have concluded that the guidelines sentence did not best serve the purposes of sentencing because the guidelines did not adequately reflect mitigating circumstances in Edgar’s case, such as Edgar’s ability and willingness to help improve the legal services available to poor people in his area, and the fact that Edgar was not a danger to society.
Judge Urbom, however, imposed a guidelines prison sentence because he felt that under the guidelines, he was bound to follow the sentencing grid and impose the sentence contained therein. It is not difficult to see why Judge Urbom reached this conclusion. First, judges and practitioners have assumed that the Commission’s application instructions conform with the Sentencing Reform Act, an assumption that is unwarranted. See Miller & Freed, supra. Second, although the statute treats departures as an integral part of the guidelines scheme, the appellate courts have been swift to strike down district courts that depart from the guidelines range.2 Appellate courts seem to presume that the Commission has “adequately” taken into consideration mitigating or aggravating circumstances present in a case even when the Commission has never said a word on the mitigating circumstance in question.3 See, e.g., United States v. Prestemon, 929 F.2d 1275, 1277-78 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 220, 116 L.Ed.2d 178 (1991) (departure based on defendant’s status as an adopted child reversed; court finds that Commission adequately took such circumstances into consideration even though guidelines are entirely silent on the subject); United States v. Pozzy, 902 F.2d 133, 139 (1st Cir.1990) (although guidelines never mention pregnancy as a mitigating factor, appellate court finds as a matter of law that Commission must have adequately considered it when formulating the guidelines). We do not exhibit such blind defer*99ence when reviewing the rulemaking of other administrative agencies, and practitioners and judges need to take a harder look at the Commission’s work product. If this were done, district courts might be less hesitant to depart from the guidelines range and to exhibit more of the “discretion, flexibility and independent judgment” that Congress intended. United States v. Lara, 905 F.2d 599, 604 (2d Cir.1990).
II.
Edgar was a first offender and would have been a good candidate for probation. Although probation is inappropriate for repeat offenders, preguidelines experience suggests that it is very successful for first offenders. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, Federal Offenses and Offenders: Sentencing and Time Served 6-7 & table 7 (1987) (only 3.5% of first offenders had their probation revoked for a violation or a new offense, as compared to 16.9% for offenders with prior prison records placed on probation); P. Texter & D. Huie, A Statistical Review of the United States Probation Office, Eastern District of Arkansas, 1970-1979: A Study of Recidivism, Supervision and Violations 90 (1981) (recidivism rate for probationers overall was 18%, but only 10% for first offenders placed on probation among subjects followed for five years after completion of their probation terms). A prison sentence is often unnecessary to achieve the purposes of the criminal law when first offenders are involved, and Congress recognized this in the Sentencing Reform Act:
The Commission shall insure that the guidelines reflect the general appropriateness of imposing a sentence other than imprisonment in cases in which the defendant is a first offender who has not been convicted of a crime of violence or an otherwise serious offense, and the general appropriateness of imposing a term of imprisonment on a person convicted of a crime of violence that results in serious bodily injury.
28 U.S.C. § 994(j) (1988) (emphasis added).
The guidelines have not even come close to complying with this mandate. We repeatedly see first offenders convicted of non-violent offenses who face prison sentences because the guidelines grid requires prison sentences for first offenders with offense levels of 13 or greater. See U.S.S.G. Ch. 5, Pt. A (sentencing table); U.S.S.G. § 501.1(f). Where a guideline is not in “sufficiently reasonable compliance with the statutory mandate” we may invalidate it. United States v. Lee, 887 F.2d 888, 891 (8th Cir.1989) (invalidating section 2J1.6 of the guidelines for failing to comply with Congressional mandate). Although Congress did not require the Commission to make probation available for all crimes or all offenders, see United States v. Barrett, 937 F.2d 1346, 1350 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 322, 116 L.Ed.2d 263 (1991) (sexual abuse), it did express a strong preference for alternatives to imprisonment where the crime was not violent and the defendant was a first offender, as is the case here.
HL
I recognize that Edgar’s counsel did.not specifically argue the foregoing points before Judge Urbom or before this court. It could be claimed, therefore, that the statutory question is not properly before us, and ordinarily I would have declined to address the issue. Recently, however, our court saw fit to reverse a district court on an issue that was never raised on appeal and never raised in the district court. See Luf-kins v. Leapley, 965 F.2d 1477 (8th Cir. 1992) (court reverses granting of writ on grounds that constitutional violation was harmless error even though harmless error issue was never raised by the prosecution in state court proceedings, in the United States District Court, or in this court). If an issue so waived by the prosecution may be considered by this court, then I see no reason why we cannot reverse a district court on a point not specifically raised by a defendant below or on appeal.
For the foregoing reasons, I cannot concur in part II.B. of the court’s opinion. I concur in all other respects.

. The court shall impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes set forth in paragraph (2) of the subsection. The court, in determining the particular sentence to be imposed, shall consider—
(1) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant;
(2) the need for the sentence imposed—
(A)to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense;
(B) to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct;
(C) to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant;
(D) to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner;
(3) the kinds of sentences available;
(4) the kinds of sentence and the sentencing range established for the applicable category of offense committed by the applicable category of defendant as set forth in the guidelines that are issued by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(a)(1) and that are in effect on the date the defendant is sentenced;
*97(5) any pertinent policy statement issued by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(a)(2) that is in effect on the date the defendant is sentenced;
(6) the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct; and
(7)the need to provide restitution to any victims of the offense.
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) (1988).

. I find this particularly ironic, given that the authors and principal supporters of the guidelines claim that the sentencing guidelines give the district judges much greater discretion than they are using. See, e.g., Gerald B. Tjoflat, The Untapped Potential for Judicial Discretion Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: Advice for Counsel, 55 Federal Probation 4 (1991); William W. Wilkins, Jr., Plea Negotiations, Acceptance of Responsibility, Role of the Offender, and Departures: Policy Decisions in the Promulgation of Federal Sentencing Guidelines, 23 Wake Forest L.Rev. 181, 196 (1988) (departure power gives district judges flexibility to impose individualized sentences). The introduction to the guidelines plainly states that they were intended to set forth the appropriate sentence in the heartland of cases, not every case, see U.S.S.G. Ch. 1, Pt. A4(b) (introduction) (policy statement), but the appellate courts seem to have ignored this policy statement as well as the underlying statute.

. These are astonishing conclusions in light of Congress’s specific direction:
In determining whether a circumstance was adequately taken into consideration, the court shall consider only the sentencing guidelines, policy statements, and official commentary of the Sentencing Commission.
18 U.S.C. § 3553(b) (1988).