Stinson v. United States

• Decision Date: 03 May 1993
• Docket Number: No. 91-8685,91-8685
• Citation: 113 S.Ct. 1913,508 U.S. 36,123 L.Ed.2d 598
• Parties: Terry Lynn STINSON, Petitioner v. UNITED STATES
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

508 U.S. 36

113 S.Ct. 1913

123 L.Ed.2d 598

Terry Lynn STINSON, Petitioner

v UNITED STATES.

No. 91-8685.

Argued March 24, 1993.

Decided May 3, 1993.

Syllabus ^*

After petitioner Stinson pleaded guilty to a five-count indictment resulting from his robbery of a bank, the District Court sentenced him as a career offender under United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual § 4B1.1, which requires, inter alia, that "the instant offense of conviction [be] a crime of violence." The court found that Stinson's offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), was a "crime of violence" as that term was then defined in USSG § 4B1.2(1). While the case was on appeal, however, the Sentencing Commission promulgated Amendment 433, which added a sentence to the § 4B1.2 commentary that expressly excluded the felon-in-possession offense from the "crime of violence" definition. The Court of Appeals nevertheless affirmed Stinson's sentence, adhering to its earlier interpretation that the crime in question was categorically a crime of violence and holding that the commentary to the Guidelines is not binding on the federal courts.

Held: The Guidelines Manual's commentary which interprets or explains a guideline is authoritative unless it violates the Constitution or a federal statute, or is inconsistent with, or a plainly erroneous reading of, that guideline. Pp. ____.

(a) The Court of Appeals erred in concluding that the commentary added by Amendment 433 is not binding on the federal courts. Commentary which functions to "interpret [a] guideline or explain how it is to be applied," § 1B1.7, controls, and if failure to follow, or a misreading of, such commentary results in a sentence "select[ed] . . . from the wrong guideline range," Williams v. United States, 503 U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 1112, 1120, 117 L.Ed.2d 341, that sentence would constitute "an incorrect application of the . . . guidelines" that should be set aside under 18 U.S.C. § 3742(f)(1) unless the error was harmless, see Williams, supra, at ----, 112 S.Ct., at ----. Guideline § 1B1.7 makes this proposition clear, and this Court's holding in Williams, 503 U.S., at ----, 112 S.Ct., at ----, that the Sentencing Commission's policy statements bind federal courts applies with equal force to the commentary at issue. However, it does not follow that commentary is binding in all instances. The standard that governs whether particular interpretive or explanatory commentary is binding is the one that applies to an agency's interpretation of its own legislative rule: Provided it does not violate the Constitution or a federal statute, such an interpretation must be given controlling weight unless it is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation it interprets. See, e.g., Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., 325 U.S. 410, 414, 65 S.Ct. 1215, 1217, 89 L.Ed. 1700. Amended commentary is binding on the courts even though it is not reviewed by Congress, and prior judicial constructions of a particular guideline cannot prevent the Sentencing Commission from adopting a conflicting interpretation that satisfies the standard adopted herein. Pp. ____.

(b) Application of the foregoing principles leads to the conclusion that federal courts may not use the felon-in-possession offense as the predicate crime of violence for purposes of imposing § 4B1.1's career offender provision as to those defendants to whom Amendment 433 applies. Although the guideline text may not compel the Amendment's exclusion of the offense in question from the "crime of violence" definition, the commentary is a binding interpretation of the quoted phrase because it does not run afoul of the Constitution or a federal statute, and it is not plainly erroneous or inconsistent with § 4B1.2. Pp. ____.

(c) The Court declines to address the Government's argument that Stinson's sentence conformed with the Guidelines Manual in effect when he was sentenced, and that the sentence may not be reversed on appeal based upon a postsentence amendment to the Manual's provisions. The Court of Appeals did not consider this theory, and it is not fairly included in the question this Court formulated in its grant of certiorari. It is left to be addressed on remand. P. ____.

943 F.2d 1268 (CA 11 1991), vacated and remanded.

KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.

William Mallory Kent, Jacksonville, FL, for petitioner.

Paul J. Larkin, Jr., Washington, DC, for respondent.

Justice KENNEDY delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this case we review a decision of the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit holding that the commentary to the Sentencing Guidelines is not binding on the federal courts. We decide that commentary in the Guidelines Manual that interprets or explains a guideline is authoritative unless it violates the Constitution or a federal statute, or is inconsistent with, or a plainly erroneous reading of, that guideline.

Petitioner Terry Lynn Stinson entered a plea of guilty to a five-count indictment resulting from his robbery of a Florida bank. The presentence report recommended that petitioner be sentenced as a career offender under the Sentencing Guidelines. See United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual § 4B1.1 (Nov.1989). Section 4B1.1 provided that a defendant is a career offender if:

"(1) the defendant was at least eighteen years old at the time of the instant offense, (2) the instant offense of conviction is a felony that is either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense, and (3) the defendant has at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense." All concede that petitioner was at least 18 years old when the events leading to the indictment occurred and that he then had at least two prior felony convictions for crimes of violence, thereby satisfying the first and third elements in the definition of career offender. It is the second element in this definition, the requirement that the predicate offense be a crime of violence, that gave rise to the ultimate problem in this case. At the time of his sentencing, the guidelines defined "crime of violence" as, among other things, "any offense under federal or state law punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year that . . . involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another." § 4B1.2(1). The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida found that petitioner's conviction for the offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), was a crime of violence, satisfying the second element of the career offender definition. Although the indictment contained other counts, the District Court relied only upon the felon-in-possession offense in applying the career offender provision of the guidelines. In accord with its conclusions, the District Court sentenced petitioner as a career offender.

On appeal, petitioner maintained his position that the offense relied upon by the District Court was not a crime of violence under USSG §§ 4B1.1 and 4B1.2(1). The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that possession of a firearm by a felon was, as a categorical matter, a crime of violence. 943 F.2d 1268, 1271-1273 (CA11 1991). After its decision, however, Amendment 433 to the Guidelines Manual, which added a sentence to the commentary to § 4B1.2, became effective. The new sentence stated that "[t]he term 'crime of violence' does not include the offense of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon." ¹ USSG App. C, at 253 (Nov.1992). See § 4B1.2 comment., n. 2. Petitioner sought rehearing, arguing that Amendment 433 should be given retroactive effect, but the Court of Appeals adhered to its earlier interpretation of "crime of violence" and denied the petition for rehearing in an opinion. 957 F.2d 813 (CA11 1992) (per curiam).

Rather than considering whether the amendment should be given retroactive application, the Court of Appeals held that commentary to the Guidelines, though "persuasive," is of only "limited authority" and not "binding" on the federal courts. Id., at 815. It rested this conclusion on the fact that Congress does not review amendments to the commentary under 28 U.S.C. § 994(p). The Court of Appeals "decline[d] to be bound by the change in section 4B1.2's commentary until Congress amends section 4B1.2's language to exclude specifically the possession of a firearm by a felon as a 'crime of violence.' " 957 F.2d, at 815. The various courts of appeals have taken conflicting positions on the authoritative weight to be accorded to the commentary to the Sentencing Guidelines,² so we granted certiorari. 506 U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 459, 121 L.Ed.2d 368 (1992).

The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, as amended, 18 U.S.C. § 3551 et seq. (1988 Ed. and Supp. III), 28 U.S.C. §§ 991-998 (1988 Ed. and Supp. III), created the Sentencing Commission, 28 U.S.C. § 991(a), and charged it with the task of "establish[ing] sentencing policies and practices for the Federal criminal justice system," § 991(b)(1). See Mistretta v. United States, 488 U.S. 361, 367-370, 109 S.Ct. 647, 652-654, 102 L.Ed.2d 714 (1989). The Commission executed this function by promulgating the Guidelines Manual. The Manual contains text of three varieties. First is a guideline provision itself. The Sentencing Reform Act establishes that guidelines are "for use of a sentencing court in determining the sentence to be imposed in a criminal case." 28 U.S.C. § 994(a)(1). The guidelines provide direction as to the appropriate type of punishment—probation, fine, or term of imprisonment —and the extent of the punishment imposed. §§ 994(a)(1)(A) and (B). Amendments to guidelines must be submitted to Congress for a 6-month period of review, during which Congress can modify or disapprove them. § 994(p). The second variety of text in the Manual is a policy statement. The Sentencing Reform Act authorizes...