U.S. v. Solomon
| Citation | 848 F.2d 156 |
| Decision Date | 27 June 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 87-5890,87-5890 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Deon Patrick SOLOMON, Defendant-Appellant. Non-Argument Calendar. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Theodore J. Sakowitz, Federal Public Defender, Dave Lee Brannon, Asst. Federal Public Defender, Miami, Fla., for defendant-appellant.
Dexter W. Lehtinen, U.S. Atty., William T. Shockley, Linda Collins Hertz, Andrea Simonton, Chris McAiley, Asst. U.S. Attys., Miami, Fla., for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Before TJOFLAT, KRAVITCH and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.
Deon Solomon pled guilty to one count of possession of at least five grams of a substance containing cocaine base with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1). The district court was required by 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1)(B)(iii) to sentence Solomon to imprisonment for not less than five years, followed by a term of supervised release for not less than four years. The district court imposed the minimum sentence permitted by the statute.
Solomon argues on appeal that the statutory minimum sentence violates the fifth and eighth amendments. We reject these arguments under the authority of United States v. Holmes, 838 F.2d 1175 (11th Cir.1988). In Holmes, a panel of this court rejected identical constitutional challenges to 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1)(B)(ii), which requires a term of imprisonment of not less than five years for the possession with intent to distribute of 500 grams or more of cocaine. As to the eighth amendment claim, the Holmes panel concluded that the sentences authorized by section 841(b)(1)(B)(ii) were not disproportionate to the gravity of the offense. Although this case involves a conviction for possession of cocaine base rather than cocaine, we do not find this case distinguishable from Holmes in any relevant fashion. We therefore hold that a prison term of five years followed by four years of supervised release for the possession with intent to distribute of at least five grams of a substance containing cocaine base does not violate the eighth amendment.
Nor does the statutory minimum violate the fifth amendment guarantees of due process and equal protection. Heightened scrutiny is inapplicable because the statute does not discriminate on the basis of a suspect classification or the exercise of a fundamental right. See United States v. Holmes, 838 F.2d at 1177. Congress could rationally have concluded that the possession with intent to...
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