U.S. v. Schnepper
| Decision Date | 13 January 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. CR. 02-00062 ACK.,CR. 02-00062 ACK. |
| Citation | 302 F.Supp.2d 1170 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Thomas M. SCHNEPPER (1), Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Hawaii |
William M. Domingo, Office of the Fed. Public Defenders, Richard S. Kawana, Honolulu, HI, for Thomas M. Schnepper (1), defendant.
Michael A. Rotker, Lawrence L. Tong, Office of the United States Attorney, Honolulu, HI, for U.S.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO IMPOSE SENTENCE WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE SENTENCING GUIDELINES
The so-called "Feeney Amendment," Title IV of the Prosecutorial Remedies and Tools Against the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 ("PROTECT Act"), Pub.L. No. 108-21, 117 Stat. 650 (2003), supplements the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 ("Reform Act"), 18 U.S.C. §§ 3551-3742 and 28 U.S.C. §§ 991-998, by imposing further constraints and, as many commentators have noted, burdensome tasks on the Judiciary. But it is not for the Court to question the wisdom of our federal sentencing scheme as a matter of policy, nor to reexamine the correctness of Mistretta v. United States, 488 U.S. 361, 109 S.Ct. 647, 102 L.Ed.2d 714 (1989). The Court's important but limited function is to determine whether Title IV violates the United States Constitution. More precisely the Court must decide whether Title IV creates a sentencing system so unlike that approved of in Mistretta as to render the entire United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual ("Guidelines Manual") unconstitutional. For the following reasons, the Court concludes that Title IV does not transgress the borders approved of in Mistretta.
On June 6, 2003, a jury found Defendant Thomas M. Schnepper guilty of five counts of using the internet, a facility and means of interstate commerce, to knowingly attempt to transfer obscene material in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1470 and one count of using the internet, a facility and means of interstate commerce, to knowingly attempt to persuade, induce and entice an individual less than eighteen years of age to engage in sexual activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b).1
On September 18, 2003, Schnepper moved to Impose Sentence Without Reference to the Sentencing Guidelines Because the Guidelines Have Been Rendered Unconstitutional By the "PROTECT" Act ("Defendant's Motion").2 The United States of America ("Government") filed its Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant's Motion ("Memo in Opp.") on October 30, 2003. Schnepper replied on November 14, 2003.3 The Court heard argument on December 18, 2003.4
The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 "revolutionized the manner in which district courts sentence persons convicted of federal crimes."5 Burns v. United States, 501 U.S. 129, 132, 111 S.Ct. 2182, 115 L.Ed.2d 123 (1991). Prior to the Reform Act, an indeterminate sentencing system largely prevailed. That is, Congress set the minimum and maximum penalties for federal crimes but otherwise left sentencing judges with discretion to determine the appropriate punishment in individual cases. See, e.g., Judge Stanley A. Weigel, The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984: A Practical Appraisal, 36 UCLA L.Rev. 83, 86 (Fall 1988).
Dissatisfied with perceived disparities in the sentences actually imposed,6 Congress created the United States Sentencing Commission ("Commission"), a permanent, "independent commission in the judicial branch of the United States," 28 U.S.C. § 991(a).7 Congress tasked the Commission with establishing policies and practices to provide "certainty and fairness" in sentencing. 28 U.S.C. §§ 991(b)(1), 991(b)(1)(B). To that end, the Reform Act directed the Commission to "promulgate and distribute to all courts of the United States and to the United States Probation System," inter alia,"guidelines for the use of the sentencing court in determining the sentence to be imposed in a criminal case ...."8 28 U.S.C. §§ 994(a)-(a)(1). This directive resulted in the Guidelines Manual, first issued in October 1987. Weigel, supra, at 85.
To ensure successful implementation of the Guidelines Manual, Congress established a detailed data compilation system. Most notably, the Reform Act empowered the Commission to monitor judicial sentencing practices and to amend the range of permissible sentences as necessary. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 994(m)-(p), 995(a). To assist the Commission in this function, Congress imposed certain reporting requirements on sentencing courts.9 28 U.S.C. § 994(w). Not to be left out, the Reform Act also directed the Commission to provide Congress, "at least annually," with a detailed analysis of sentencing practices.10 Id.
Under the system created by the Reform Act, Congress continued to set the minimum and maximum penalties, but the Commission, through its Guidelines Manual, regulated judicial discretion by establishing a narrow range of permissible sentences between the statutory boundaries. See Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 92, 116 S.Ct. 2035, 135 L.Ed.2d 392 (1996); Wilkins, et al., supra, at 369-70; Weigel supra, at 86, 89. Sentencing courts were left to select a sentence from the guideline ranges and authorized to depart therefrom only for the reasons stated in the Guidelines Manual or in "significantly atypical cases," Wilkins, et al., supra, at 369, that is, where
"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 [Commission] in formulating the guidelines that should result in a sentence different from that described." To determine whether a circumstance was adequately taken into consideration, the Congress instructed courts to "consider only the sentencing guidelines, policy statements, and official commentary of the [Commission]."
Koon, 518 U.S. at 92-93, 116 S.Ct. 2035 (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b)) (citations omitted).
In the event of a departure, the Reform Act directed the sentencing judge to state "the specific reason" for imposing a sentence different from that described in the guidelines. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c). To ensure thorough vetting of any departure, Defendants were given the right to appeal sentences above the defined range, while the government was authorized to appeal sentences below that range. 18 U.S.C. §§ 3742(a)-(b). The Reform Act empowered both sides to appeal an incorrect application of the Guidelines Manual. Id.
Predictably, criminal defendants challenged the Reform Act in cases across the country. Weigel, supra, at 87. In Mistretta v. United States, the Court, by an eight to one vote, upheld the Commission and the Guidelines Manual as constitutional.11
Mistretta addressed two important questions: first, whether the Reform Act amounted to an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority; and, second, whether the Reform Act violated the principle of separation of powers by encroaching upon or aggrandizing the powers of the Judicial Branch.12
Taking the delegation issue first, the Court reasoned that placement of the legislative power in "a Congress of the United States," U.S. Const. art. I, § 1, did "not prevent Congress from obtaining the assistance of its coordinate branches." Mistretta, 488 U.S. at 372, 109 S.Ct. 647. This conclusion was driven by the "practical understanding that in our increasingly complex society, replete with ever changing and more technical problems, Congress simply cannot do its job absent an ability to delegate power under broad general directives." Id. at 372, 109 S.Ct. 647. That being so, extending what appeared to be legislative power to another Branch was therefore permissible so long as "Congress clearly delineate[d] the general policy, the public agency which is to apply it, and the boundaries of this delegated authority." Id. at 372-73, 109 S.Ct. 647. In short, Congress need only provide an "intelligible principle" to guide the delegatee. See id. at 373, 109 S.Ct. 647.
The Court had little difficulty finding an intelligible principle in the Reform Act. Specifically, the Court concluded that Congress had (1) clearly articulated its goals; (2) designated a particular public agency — the Commission — to act; (3) developed a specific tool — the sentencing guidelines — to accomplish Congress' purpose; and (4) directed the public agency to consider numerous factors when performing its function. Mistretta, 488 U.S. at 374-76, 109 S.Ct. 647. In other words, the Reform Act "outlin[ed] the policies which prompted the establishment of the Commission, explain[ed] what the Commission should do and how to do it, and set[ ] out specific directives to govern particular situations." Id. at 379, 109 S.Ct. 647 (quoting United States v. Chambless, 680 F.Supp. 793, 796 (E.D.La.1988)). This complete and detailed directive easily satisfied the nondelegation doctrine.
The Court paused only briefly to acknowledge the Commission's broad discretion in formulating sentencing guidelines, including the power to determine "which crimes have been punished too leniently, and which too severely." Mistretta, 488 U.S. at 377-78, 109 S.Ct. 647. Such discretion, according to the Court, was not a constitutional infirmity because "delegations of this type may ... carry with them the need to exercise judgment on matters of policy." Id. at 378, 109 S.Ct. 647.
Turning to the separation of powers issue, the Court held that the Reform Act did not "upset the constitutionally mandated balance of powers among the coordinate Branches." Mistretta, 488 U.S. at 412, 109 S.Ct. 647. This result followed from a flexible and functional understanding of the Constitution's structure.
That is, although "the Constitution diffuses power the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Valley
...Austin v. Healey, 5 F.3d 598 (2d Cir.1993); In re Investment Bankers, Inc., 4 F.3d 1556, 1561 (10th Cir.1993); United States v. Schnepper, 302 F.Supp.2d 1170, 1180 (D.Haw.2004), aff'd in part and remanded in part on other grounds, 161 Fed.Appx. 678 (9th Cir.2006). Furthermore, refusing TVA ......
-
U.S. v. Detwiler
...an `actual, concrete invasion of a legally protected interest' in every meaningful sense of the phrase." United States v. Schnepper, 302 F.Supp.2d 1170, 1187 (D.Hawai'i 2004) (citations omitted). If the Feeney Amendment "causes or exacerbates a violation of the principle of separation of po......
-
U.S. v. Bailey, No. CR-04-89-B-W.
...Act to Mr. Bailey, because to do so would violate the Ex Post Facto Clause. See U.S. Const. art. I, § 9; United States v. Schnepper, 302 F.Supp.2d 1170, 1183-88 (D.Hawai'i 2004). The Presentence Investigation Report applies the 2001 version of the § 5K2.20 and the Defendant contends the 200......