U.S. v. Donelson

• Decision Date: 07 December 1982
• Docket Number: 82-1133,Nos. 81-2118,s. 81-2118
• Citation: 224 U.S. App. D.C. 389,695 F.2d 583
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Jerome F. DONELSON, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America v. Andre WASHINGTON, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 583

695 F.2d 583

224 U.S.App.D.C. 389

UNITED STATES of America v. Jerome F. DONELSON, Appellant.

UNITED STATES of America v. Andre WASHINGTON, Appellant.

Nos. 81-2118, 82-1133.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued Oct. 1, 1982.

Decided Dec. 7, 1982.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Criminal Nos. 81-00267, 81-00223).

Bobby R. Burchfield, Washington, D.C. (appointed by this court) for appellants in Nos. 81-2118 and 82-1133.

Diane K. Dildine, Washington, D.C. (appointed by this court) was on the brief, for appellant in No. 82-1133.

Michael L. Rankin, Asst. U.S. Atty., Washington, D.C., with whom Stanley S. Harris, U.S. Atty., John A. Terry, Asst. U.S. Atty., Washington, D.C., at the time the brief was filed. E. Anne McKinsey and Daniel J. Bernstein, Asst. U.S. Attys., Washington, D.C., were on the brief for appellee. Michael W. Farrell, Asst. U.S. Atty., Washington, D.C., also entered an appearance for appellee.

Before TAMM, Circuit Judge, SCALIA, Circuit Judge, and GASCH, ^* District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge SCALIA.

SCALIA, Circuit Judge:

In the separate and unrelated prosecutions giving rise to these consolidated appeals, both appellants were charged, in the second count of two-count indictments, with possession of heroin, under D.C.Code Sec. 33-502 (1981), punishable as a misdemeanor under D.C.Code Sec. 33-524(a). Appellant Donelson was charged in the first count with the felony of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1) (1976); as a result of plea negotiations, that count was dismissed and he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor. Appellant Washington was charged in the first count with the felony of distributing a controlled substance (heroin), 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1); the jury acquitted him of that charge but found him guilty of the misdemeanor.

Both appellants, who were under the age of 22 at the time of their convictions, were sentenced by the District Court to custody of the Attorney General for treatment and supervision pursuant to Sec. 5010(b) of the Federal Youth Corrections Act, 18 U.S.C. Secs. 5001-5024 (1976). By its terms, the Youth Corrections Act permits custody at security institutions to continue for as long as four years from the date of conviction and authorizes an additional two years of release which is only conditional, subject to revocation for violation of the terms of supervision. 18 U.S.C. Secs. 5017(c), 5020. ¹ Appellants have thus been subjected to the possibility of confinement and of subsequent supervisory restraint for periods far exceeding the one year which would have been the maximum sentence imposable upon an adult for the offenses of which they have been convicted. See D.C.Code Sec. 33-524(a). They urge that this is (A) contrary to what Congress has prescribed and (B) an unconstitutional denial of equal protection of the law. We disagree and affirm the judgments of the District Court.

(A) The Statutory Claim

Appellants argue that the relevant provisions of the Youth Corrections Act should not be interpreted to permit a youth to be held for a term longer than an adult could receive for the same offense. That position was rejected by this court in Carter v. United States, 113 U.S.App.D.C. 123, 306 F.2d 283 (1962). There, we found no reason to equate the length of a Youth Corrections Act sentence with the length of an ordinary criminal sentence, because of its different purpose (its "basic theory ... is rehabilitative") and effect (the "conditions and terms" of confinement are different "than a defendant would undergo in an ordinary prison"). ² Id. at 125, 306 F.2d at 285. And we found sentences of potentially greater length than ordinary criminal sentences permitted by "the clear language of the Act." Id. We have adhered to that interpretation in later opinions. See, e.g., Harvin v. United States, 144 U.S.App.D.C. 199, 445 F.2d 675 (en banc), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 943, 92 S.Ct. 292, 30 L.Ed.2d 257 (1971); United States v. Fort, 143 U.S.App.D.C. 255, 272, 443 F.2d 670, 687 (1970), cert. denied, 403 U.S. 932, 91 S.Ct. 2255, 29 L.Ed.2d 710 (1971).

Appellants contend, however, that the statutory situation has been changed by the Federal Magistrates Act of 1979, Pub.L. No. 96-82, 93 Stat. 645 (codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3401 (Supp. III 1979)). We will treat this argument at greater length than we would normally think it requires, because it has been accepted by recent decisions of two other courts. See United States v. Hunt, 661 F.2d 72 (6th Cir.1981); United States v. Amidon, 627 F.2d 1023 (9th Cir.1980).

Appellants rely upon that provision of the Federal Magistrates Act which added the following subsection (g) to 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3401:

(g) The magistrate may, in a case involving a youth offender in which consent to trial before a magistrate has been filed under subsection (b) of this section, impose sentence and exercise the other powers granted to the district court under chapter 402 and section 4216 of this title, except that--

(1) the magistrate may not sentence the youth offender to the custody of the Attorney General pursuant to such chapter for a period in excess of 1 year for conviction of a misdemeanor or 6 months for conviction of a petty offense;

(2) such youth offender shall be released conditionally under supervision no later than 3 months before the expiration of the term imposed by the magistrate, and shall be discharged unconditionally on or before the expiration of the maximum sentence imposed; and

(3) the magistrate may not suspend the imposition of sentence and place the youth offender on probation for a period in excess of 1 year for conviction of a misdemeanor or 6 months for conviction of a petty offense.

18 U.S.C. Sec. 3401(g) (Supp. III 1979). This provision could conceivably alter the application of the Youth Corrections Act which we announced in Carter in either of two ways. Since it is unclear precisely which is relied upon by appellants, we will discuss each in turn.

Statutory Amendment

First, the later legislation might amend the earlier. Such amendment can be achieved either (a) explicitly, or (b) impliedly, through the enactment of provisions that are incompatible with subsistence of the prior scheme. The latter is not the case here since, as will be evident from our discussion of the constitutional claim below, limitation of sentencing authority for magistrates is not inconsistent with retention of broader sentencing authority for district judges. As for explicit amendment, this simply cannot be supported by the statutory text. The new subsection 3401(g), like the rest of the Federal Magistrates Act of 1979, deals with the powers of magistrates and limitations upon those powers. There is no way it can be interpreted to restrict the powers of district judges, under the Youth Corrections Act or any other legislation. In fact, insofar as the new subsection speaks to the power of district judges to impose longer sentences under the Youth Corrections Act, it implicitly confirms that power--by providing that magistrates have the same power as district judges, "except that" they are limited to sentences of the specified duration.

Appellants, and the cases upon which they rely, place great weight upon the following excerpt from the Conference Report on the 1979 legislation:

The Senate bill and House amendment thereto both contained provisions setting forth the reach of magistrate sentencing powers under the Youth Corrections Act. The conferees agreed that a more detailed statutory clarification was necessary. To avoid the possibility of a youth offender being punished for up to six years for violation of a petty offense or misdemeanor, the conferees resolved that no youth offender could serve a longer sentence under the YCA than he could have served as an adult. This mandate--no more than one year for conviction of a misdemeanor or six months for conviction of a petty offense--explicitly is set forth in the conference substitute.

H.Conf.Rep. No. 444, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. 9-10, reprinted in 1979 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 1469, 1490. It must be noted, to begin with, that even if the mandate of the statute were extended to district judges, it would not have the effect described in this excerpt of assuring that "no youth offender could serve a longer sentence under the YCA than he could have served as an adult." Where the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by less than one year, or a petty offense punishable by less than six months, the text of the statute clearly authorizes a Youth Corrections Act sentence that exceeds the permissible adult term. See 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1, 3401(g)(1). In other words, even in its application to magistrates alone, this portion of the Conference Report is in error. ³

In any case, the language in question, while in isolation susceptible of the broader interpretation appellants would give it, seems to us more reasonably understood, in context, as addressing only the subject matter of the legislation under discussion. That is to say, the underscored language must reasonably be implied in the third sentence:

To avoid the possibility of a young offender being punished by a magistrate for up to six years for violation of a petty offense or misdemeanor, the conferees resolved that no youth offender sentenced by a magistrate could serve a longer sentence under the YCA than he could have served as an adult.

This interpretation is not only more in accord with the statutory text which the statement purports to describe; it is also the only interpretation compatible with the remainder of the legislative history, which displays no concern for general revision of Youth Corrections Act sentencing, but rather concern for reconciling magistrates' ability to sentence under that Act with the then-existing, one-year...