US v. Jimenez

Decision Date08 March 1989
Docket NumberNo. TH 88-14-CR.,TH 88-14-CR.
Citation708 F. Supp. 964
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Thomas JIMENEZ, Defendant.
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of Indiana

Jessie A. Cook, Trueblood Harmon Carter & Cook, Terre Haute, Ind., for plaintiff.

Timothy M. Morrison, First Asst. U.S. Atty., Indianapolis, Ind., for defendant.

ENTRY

TINDER, District Judge.

This matter comes before the court on defendant's Motion to Determine Constitutionality of Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Defendant Thomas Jimenez, who is charged with the offense of escape from a penal institution pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 751(a) (1982), moves this court to determine the constitutionality of the sentencing guidelines promulgated by the United States Sentencing Commission pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. §§ 3551-3742 (Supp. IV 1986) and 28 U.S.C. §§ 991-998 (Supp. IV 1986). This court has jurisdiction of this cause pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231 (1982).1

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant Jimenez was serving a sentence of five years in custody with a three year special parole term due to his conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine when he escaped from the Federal Prison Camp in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 5, 1988. He was subsequently arrested and charged, by indictment, with escape pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 751(a) (1982), which provides in pertinent part:

Whoever escapes or attempts to escape from the custody of the Attorney General or his authorized representative, or from any institution or facility in which he is confined by direction of the Attorney General, or from any custody under or by virtue of any process issued under the laws of the United States by any court, judge, or commissioner, or from the custody of any officer or employee of the United States pursuant to lawful arrest, shall, if the custody or confinement is by virtue of an arrest on a charge of felony, or conviction of any offense, be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both....

The defendant, who, if convicted, is to be sentenced under the federal sentencing guidelines, challenges the guidelines on several constitutional grounds.

II. DISCUSSION

The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 and the United States Sentencing Commission's binding guidelines for use in sentencing federal defendants have been discussed extensively in many cases.2 Thus, this court will dispense with a detailed explanation of the Act and the guidelines that were promulgated by the Commission.

It should be noted that ruling on the constitutionality of a congressional act is "the gravest and most delicate duty" that a court is called upon to perform. Blodgett v. Holden, 275 U.S. 142, 148, 48 S.Ct. 105, 107, 72 L.Ed. 206 (1927). There is a strong presumption of constitutionality toward a law that has been produced by congressional enactment and presidential approval. Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57, 64, 101 S.Ct. 2646, 2651, 69 L.Ed.2d 478 (1981); Fullilove v. Klutznick, 448 U.S. 448, 472-73, 100 S.Ct. 2758, 2771-72, 65 L.Ed.2d 902 (1980). While this court has a duty to declare unconstitutional any statute or portion of a statute that conflicts with the United States Constitution, I also have a duty to weigh the presumption when reaching a decision.

A. Delegation and Separation of Powers

Defendant argues that the Sentencing Reform Act impermissibly delegates a legislative function to the judiciary. Defendant further asserts that the Act violates the doctrine of separation of powers for two reasons. First, the placement of the Sentencing Commission within the judicial branch violates the Constitution because the Commission does not function in a judicial capacity. Second, the doctrine of separation of powers is violated by the retention of power over members of the judiciary by the executive branch.

Eleven days after defendant made these arguments in its motion, which was filed on January 9, 1988, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Mistretta v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 109 S.Ct. 647, 102 L.Ed.2d 714 (1989). In Mistretta, the Supreme Court discussed the precise issues cited above and held that the sentencing guidelines were constitutional since Congress neither delegated excessive legislative power to the Commission nor violated the separation of powers principle by placing the Commission in the judicial branch, by requiring federal judges to serve on the Commission and to share their authority with nonjudges, or by empowering the President to appoint Commission members and to remove them for cause. Justice Blackmun, delivering the opinion of the Court in an eight to one decision, wrote:

"We conclude that in creating the Sentencing Commission — an unusual hybrid in structure and authority — Congress neither delegated excessive legislative power nor upset the constitutionally mandated balance of powers among the coordinate Branches. The Constitution's structural protections do not prohibit Congress from delegating to an expert body located within the Judicial Branch the intricate task of formulating sentencing guidelines consistent with such significant statutory directions as is present here. Nor does our system of checked and balanced authority prohibit Congress from calling upon the accumulated wisdom and experience of the Judicial Branch in creating policy on a matter uniquely within the ken of judges."

Mistretta, 109 S.Ct. at 675.

Defendant's arguments regarding the delegation and separation of powers issues do not present any novel angles that were not considered by the Supreme Court. Thus, while this court is not in the habit of giving short shrift to constitutional arguments, I see no need to rehash areas recently and fully addressed by the Supreme Court. Accordingly, this court finds that the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 does not impermissibly delegate a legislative function to the judiciary and that the doctrine of separation of powers is not violated by the placement of the Sentencing Commission within the judicial branch or by the executive branch's retention of power over Commission members.

B. Due Process

The rest of defendant's arguments require more discussion because they present issues that have not been addressed by the Supreme Court, but only by a myriad of lower federal courts that have reached varying decisions. First, defendant argues that the application of the sentencing guidelines violates a defendant's due process right to an individualized sentencing decision. He asserts that the guidelines severely restrict judicial discretion and opposes what he perceives to be a mechanical application of the guidelines that were promulgated by Commissioners who are invisible to him and to the general public. He also argues that due process, which guarantees a defendant a fair opportunity to be heard, is violated because a criminal defendant has no opportunity to affect the court's assessment of the appropriate sentence by challenging the facts relied upon by the court or by pointing out circumstances peculiar to the case that are not considered adequately in the guidelines.

Defendant cites several decisions by lower federal courts that struck down the guidelines based, at least in part, on a violation of the due process clause.3 This court agrees with Judge Burns's observation in United States v. Belgard, 694 F.Supp. 1488 (D.Or.1988) that the analyses in many of these opinions seem to blur the distinction between substantive and procedural due process. The two central themes that are emphasized in these cases that find a due process violation are as follows:

1. Defendants have a due process right to have individual consideration of all relevant circumstances of the offense. A defendant "is constitutionally entitled to an articulated exercise of discretion by the judge before whom he or she appears rather than to the mechanical application of formulae adopted by non-constitutional commissioners invisible to him and to the general public." Bolding, 683 F.Supp. at 1005.
2. Defendants have a procedural due process right to challenge the information on which their sentence is based.

Defendant has standing to challenge the constitutionality of the sentencing guidelines only insofar as they have an adverse impact on his own rights. See United States v. Palma, 760 F.2d 475, 477 (3rd Cir.1985) (citing County Court of Ulster County v. Allen, 442 U.S. 140, 99 S.Ct. 2213, 60 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979)). This court will not sustain a blanket due process objection to the guidelines. See United States v. Rodriguez, 691 F.Supp. 1252 (W.D.Mo.1988). Thus, I will scrutinize only the guidelines' impact on this defendant's due process rights.

Defendant argues that the application of the guidelines violate his right to an individualized sentencing decision. The Supreme Court has never recognized a due process right to individualized sentences in noncapital cases. In Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 604-05, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 2964-65, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978), a capital case, the plurality opinion stated, "We recognize that, in noncapital cases, the established practice of individualized sentences rests not on constitutional commands, but on public policy enacted into statutes." The Seventh Circuit has held expressly in cases that were decided before the promulgation of the guidelines that no such right exists. United States v. McCoy, 770 F.2d 647 (7th Cir. 1985); United States v. Oxford, 735 F.2d 276 (7th Cir.1984); accord United States v. Weidner, 692 F.Supp. 968, 971-72 (N.D. Ind.1988); United States v. Kerr, 686 F.Supp. 1174 (W.D.Penn.1988). In fact, lower federal courts have upheld mandatory sentences that eliminate judicial discretion. See, e.g., United States v. Goodface, 835 F.2d 1233 (8th Cir.1987); United States v. Smith, 818 F.2d 687 (9th Cir.1987). Accordingly, this court holds that defendant has no due process right to an individualized, discretionary sentence.

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4 cases
  • U.S. v. Ofchinick, 89-3008
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit
    • May 30, 1989
    ...though not conclusive, is that sentences not excluded are to be included. On this issue we finally note that in United States v. Jimenez, 708 F.Supp. 964 (S.D.Ind.1989), to be reported at 708 F.Supp. 964, the court rejected an argument identical to that made by We cannot regard Ofchinick's ......
  • U.S. v. Goldbaum, 88-2239
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • July 21, 1989
    ...See United States v. Ofchinick, 877 F.2d 251; United States v. Medeiros, 710 F.Supp. 106 (M.D.Pa., 1989); United States v. Jimenez, 708 F.Supp. 964, 968-69 (S.D.Ind.1989). See also United States v. Birchfield, 709 F.Supp. 1064 (M.D.Ala., 1989) (three points were added by court but such acti......
  • US v. Brown, Crim. No. 89-00302-A.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia
    • December 29, 1989
    ...United States v. Goldbaum, 879 F.2d 811 (10th Cir.1989); United States v. Ofchinick, 877 F.2d 251 (3d Cir.1989); United States v. Jimenez, 708 F.Supp. 964 (S.D.Ind.1989). Medeiros is directly in point. There, a defendant serving an eighteen (18) month sentence walked away from a minimum sec......
  • US v. Bell
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota
    • June 30, 1989
    ...preserve proportionality of punishment and that refusing to apply § 4A1.1(d) does not lead to an absurd result. In United States v. Jimenez, 708 F.Supp. 964 (S.D.Ind.1989), the court noted that adding points to the defendant's criminal history score pursuant to § 4A1.1(d) and § 4A1.1(e) cou......

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