US v. Estrada, CR 5-87-22.

• Citation: 680 F. Supp. 1312
• Decision Date: 13 April 1988
• Docket Number: No. CR 5-87-22.,CR 5-87-22.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Jesus ESTRADA, a/k/a Jose Rufigo Gomez, Defendant.
• Court: United States District Courts. 8th Circuit. United States District Court of Minnesota

680 F. Supp. 1312

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Jesus ESTRADA, a/k/a Jose Rufigo Gomez, Defendant.

No. CR 5-87-22.

United States District Court, D. Minnesota, Fifth Division.

March 31, 1988.

As Corrected April 13, 1988.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Richard E. Vosepka, U.S. Atty., Mpls., Minn., for U.S.

Barry Voss, Mpls., Minn., for defendant.

John R. Steer, Gen. Counsel, U.S. Sentencing Commission, Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae.

Benson B. Weintraub, Sonnett, Sale & Kuehne, P.A., Miami, Fla., and Joseph S. Friedberg, Mpls., Mn., Counsel for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Amicus Curiae.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

HEANEY, Circuit Judge, Sitting by Designation.

Jesus Estrada moves this Court for an order precluding application of the recently promulgated Federal Sentencing Guidelines and Policy Statements (hereinafter guidelines) to his case on the ground that they are unconstitutional.

This Court finds the guidelines to be in violation of the separation of powers, both because they impermissibly grant substantial legislative power to the judicial branch of government and because they require federal judges to perform duties which would substantially impair the ability of the judiciary to function in an impartial manner.

The guidelines are, however, severable from other sections of the Sentencing Reform Act, and important sections remain valid. Thus, in accordance with the detailed instructions set forth in the remaining sections of the Act, the Court finds that it must impose a "real time sentence" and must state its reasons for imposing that sentence. Moreover, provisions of the Act providing for appellate review remain applicable.

I. BACKGROUND

On December 15, 1987, a Minnesota grand jury returned a one-count indictment against Estrada, charging him with possession of 600 grams of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). On December 30, 1987, Estrada filed a number of pre-trial motions, including motions requesting orders declaring the guidelines unconstitutional and the minimum mandatory sentence in 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B) inapplicable.¹ The Court, believing that Estrada lacked standing to challenge the constitutionality of the guidelines until he pled guilty or had been found guilty of an offense, deferred ruling on them.² On January 27, 1988, after a two-day trial, a jury found Estrada guilty as charged in the indictment. Thereafter, the Court requested and received briefs from the parties on the issue of the constitutionality of the guidelines. In addition, the Court received amicus curiae briefs from the United States Sentencing Commission and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

II. STANDING

Estrada has standing to challenge the guidelines. He has been tried and convicted of an offense to which the guidelines apply. Moreover, although the statute under which Estrada has been convicted subjects him to a mandatory minimum imprisonment term of five years, it would appear application of the guidelines requires a sentence in excess of that. Thus, the increased sentence Estrada would likely be required to serve under the guidelines represents concrete injury sufficient to establish standing. Cf. Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. v. United States Sentencing Commission, 680 F.Supp. 26 (D.D.C. 1988) (denying federal defenders standing to challenge the guidelines).

III. STATUTORY FRAMEWORK

The United States Sentencing Commission was created by Congress as part of the Sentencing Reform Act (the Act) included in the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. Pub.L. No. 98-473, Title II, 98 Stat. 1988 (1984). Its seven voting members are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate and may be removed by the President "for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office or for other good cause shown."³ 28 U.S.C. § 991(a). Of the seven voting members, three must be federal judges selected after considering a list of six judges recommended by the Judicial Conference.⁴Id.

The Commission was charged by Congress with promulgating and distributing guidelines and policy statements for the courts to use in imposing sentences in criminal cases. 28 U.S.C. § 994(a)(1). The guidelines were to "provide certainty and fairness in meeting the purposes of sentencing" while avoiding unwarranted disparities and "maintaining sufficient flexibility to permit individualized sentences." 28 U.S.C. § 991(b)(1)(B). More specifically, the Act directed the Commission to establish guidelines covering a number of sentencing determinations, including whether to impose a term of imprisonment and the length of such a term, whether to impose a term of probation and the length and conditions of any such term, whether to impose a fine and the amount of such fine, whether to require a term of supervised release after a term of imprisonment and the length of such supervision, whether multiple sentences should run consecutively or concurrently, whether to modify a sentence, and whether to accept a plea agreement. 28 U.S.C. § 994(a)(1)-(3).

In addition, the Act sets forth a number of guidelines for the Commission to follow. First, if the guidelines specify a sentence that includes a term of imprisonment, the maximum of the specified term "shall not exceed the minimum * * * by more than 25 percent or 6 months." 28 U.S.C. § 994(b). Second, the Commission must consider the relevance of certain specifically enumerated factors and take them into account in establishing guidelines to the extent it determines they are relevant.⁵ 28 U.S.C. § 994(c) and (d). Third, the Commission is to assure that the prison terms in the guidelines reflect the "general inappropriateness" of considering certain specified factors.⁶ 28 U.S.C. § 994(e). Fourth, the Commission is to take into account the nature and capacity of available correctional facilities, to recommend changes in such facilities necessitated by the guidelines, and to formulate guidelines that will "minimize the likelihood that the Federal prison population will exceed the capacity of the Federal prisons." 28 U.S.C. § 994(g). Finally, the Act specifies the weight the Commission must give to particular factors or circumstances. See 28 U.S.C. § 994(h)-(n). For example, section 994(h)(1) requires the Commission to assure the guidelines specify a substantial term of imprisonment for defendants with "two or more prior Federal, State, or local felony convictions for offenses committed on different occasions," while section 994(j) requires the Commission to "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."⁷

Finally, the Act imposes on the Commission continuing duties concerning the administration and revision of the guidelines. Specifically, the Act requires the Commission to gather data on sentences imposed pursuant to the guidelines, to solicit comments on the guidelines, to consider petitions by defendants to change the guidelines under which they were sentenced, and to report the results of such efforts to Congress and other parties. See 18 U.S.C. § 994(o)-(w).

The guidelines are not advisory. Rather, federal judges must

impose a sentence of the kind, and within the range set forth in the guidelines ... unless the judge finds that there exists an aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, that was not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guidelines and that should result in a sentence different from that described.

18 U.S.C. § 3553(b) (as amended by Pub.L. No. 100-182, Dec. 7, 1987).

IV. THE CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE

Estrada argues that the guidelines are unconstitutional because service of federal judges on the Commission violates the separation of powers doctrine and because they involve an excessive delegation of legislative authority.⁸

Under the Constitution, the responsibility for and the authority to make law rests within the legislative branch. Accordingly, only the legislative branch possesses the ultimate authority to define federal crimes and to prescribe the punishment for those crimes. United States v. Wiltberger, 18 U.S. (5 Wheat.) 76, 95, 5 L.Ed. 37 (1820). Congress, however, may delegate that authority consistent with the requirements of the Constitution. Indeed, Congress has historically chosen to prescribe maximum sentences for most federal crimes and to leave to individual judges the task of determining the actual sentence imposed. It has done so for a variety of reasons.

Some of the reasons for leaving individual judges wide discretion are based on the idea that rehabilitation should serve as a philosophical basis for imposition of punishment. Other reasons have continuing validity, even though the idea that imprisonment may serve rehabilitative goals has largely been abandoned. Foremost is the recognition that extraordinarily important and complex sentencing decisions often must be made at a time when passions in the community are exceedingly high. Therefore, it was thought wise and just to place such a decision in the hands of the most politically insulated branch of government —the judiciary. In addition, the importance of the sentencing decision required that it be placed in the hands of one individual who would bear the responsibility for it. Indeed, the responsibility is a heavy one. Of all of the tasks of a district judge, none is more difficult than imposing a sentence of imprisonment. Finally, since sentencing involves a most extreme deprivation of personal liberty, it calls for a highly individualized process. Accordingly, rather than attempting to prescribe punishments that take into account the entire range of possible human conduct and all its underlying motivations, Congress chose to delegate the task to judges, who,...