US v. Molina

• Decision Date: 16 June 1988
• Docket Number: Cr. No. N 88-17 (TFGD).
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Ricardo MOLINA, Adadin Caraballo, Jr. and Miguel Tirado.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut

688 F. Supp. 819

UNITED STATES of America v. Ricardo MOLINA, Adadin Caraballo, Jr. and Miguel Tirado.

Cr. No. N 88-17 (TFGD).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

June 16, 1988.

Stanley A. Twardy, U.S. Atty., Barbara A. Bailey, Asst. U.S. Atty., for the U.S.

Roger Frechette, New Haven, Conn., for Caraballo.

Harold Sobel, Stanton H. Lesser, Bridgeport, Conn., for Tirado.

John R. Steer, General Counsel, David E. Anderson, Deputy Gen. Counsel, U.S. Sentencing Com'n, Washington, D.C., Richard R. Brown, Hartford, Conn., for Molina.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

DALY, Chief Judge.

I. Background

In an indictment returned by a grand jury on March 9, 1988, the defendants were charged with criminal violations alleged to have occurred after November 1, 1987. Defendants pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and now await trial. After considering all of the briefs submitted in connection with defendants' motion to declare the Federal Sentencing Guidelines unconstitutional, and after hearing oral arguments on the motion in a plenary session before all of the active judges in the District of Connecticut, this Court entered an Order holding certain provisions of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (the "Sentencing Act") unconstitutional. This Memorandum of Decision sets forth the reasons for that Order.

The Sentencing Act, which was enacted as Chapter II of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 (the "CCCA"), is effective for all criminal conduct occurring subsequent to November 1, 1987. The act radically alters long-standing federal sentencing practices. For approximately 200 years federal judges have exercised broad discretion in imposing sentences on federal offenders, limited only by statutory maximum penalties and, for certain crimes, statutory minimum penalties. While this sentencing system has facilitated individualized sentencing, it has also been criticized over the years for producing too much sentencing disparity for offenders considered to be similarly situated.

Largely in response to this criticism, Congress enacted the Sentencing Act. The law alters the existing sentencing system in three fundamental ways. First, it establishes a seven member commission known as the U.S. Sentencing Commission (the "Commission"), which was authorized to, and did, promulgate binding sentencing guidelines (the "Guidelines") that specify a narrow range within which a sentence must ordinarily be imposed for each offense. 28 U.S.C. §§ 991-98. Second, the law provides for a right of appeal to determine whether the correct guideline range was imposed, and, if the sentence is outside the guideline range, whether the sentence is unreasonable in light of the factors to be considered in imposing a sentence. 18 U.S. C. § 3742. Third, the Parole Commission and the concept of parole are abolished. CCCA, Pub.L. No. 98-473, 98 Stat. 2027, Title II, § 218(a)(5) (1984) (codified at 18 U.S.C. §§ 4201-18).

II. Discussion

A.

Defendants challenge the Sentencing Act on the following grounds: (1) the Sentencing Act violates separation of powers; (2) the Guidelines were promulgated pursuant to an illegal and overbroad delegation of legislative authority; and (3) the Guidelines offend due process because they unduly restrict the availability of probation as a sentencing option. The Court is not persuaded that the Guidelines were promulgated in violation of the delegation doctrine, nor is it persuaded that the Guidelines offend due process by restricting the availability of probation. With all due respect to Congress, however, which has expended substantial energy on this legislation, the Court finds that the Sentencing Act contravenes the separation of powers doctrine.

B.

Although the question of ripeness was not raised by the government, the Court briefly addresses that issue here. The issue of ripeness is strictly a question of timing. "Its basic rationale is to prevent the courts, through avoidance of premature adjudication, from entangling themselves in abstract disagreements...." Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 136, 148, 87 S.Ct. 1507, 1515, 18 L.Ed.2d 681 (1967). A ripeness analysis requires an inquiry into the "fitness of the issues for judicial decision" and "the hardship to the parties of withholding court consideration." Thomas v. Union Carbide Agricultural Products, Co., 473 U.S. 568, 581, 105 S.Ct. 3325, 3333, 87 L.Ed.2d 409 (1985).

Although the defendants have not as yet been convicted of criminal wrongdoing, the possibility of incarceration is a significant factor entering into their pretrial negotiating strategies. Withholding a decision on this motion would, therefore, work a hardship on them. Furthermore, because the issues involved in this motion are purely legal, and will not be clarified from further factual development, they are fit for adjudication. Since nothing would be gained from postponing a decision, and the public interest would be well served by prompt resolution of the constitutional challenge presented here, the Court finds the matter ripe for adjudication.

C.

The constitutionally mandated tripartite form of government was created because the Framers recognized that "the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judicial, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co., 458 U.S. 50, 57, 102 S.Ct. 2858, 2864, 73 L.Ed.2d 598 (1982) (quoting The Federalist No. 47, at 300 (H. Lodge ed. 1888) (J. Madison)). The division of distinct governmental powers among three separate branches provides structural, self-executing checks and balances which guard against the encroachment or aggrandizement of one branch at the expense of another. The separation of powers doctrine that is embodied in the Constitution, however, does not require or envision a total separation of each of the three branches of government. Rather, the Constitution recognizes that in order for the government to operate, each branch must "function independently within their separate areas, but cooperatively in their relations with each other." In the Matter of the President's Commission on Organized Crime, Subpoena of Scarfo, 783 F.2d 370, 375 (3d Cir.1986).

The separation of powers doctrine may be violated in either of two ways. As Justice Powell commented in his concurring opinion in INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919, 963, 103 S.Ct. 2764, 2790, 77 L.Ed.2d 317 (1983), the principle may be violated when one branch assumes a function that is more properly entrusted to another. See e.g., Bowsher v. Synar, 478 U.S. 714, 106 S.Ct. 3181, 92 L.Ed.2d 583 (1986) (separation of powers violated where Congress reserves for itself removal power over officer charged with execution of laws); Keller v. Potomac Electric Power Co., 261 U.S. 428, 43 S.Ct. 445, 67 L.Ed. 731 (1923) (separation of powers violated where power to amend valuations and rates established by Public Utility Commission conferred on court); In Re Sealed Case, 838 F.2d 476, 517 (D.C.Cir. 1988) (separation of powers violated where "special court" was established to appoint special prosecutor and supervise and control prosecutorial office). Or, alternatively, the principle may be violated when one branch interferes impermissibly with the other's performance of its constitutionally assigned duties, as was the case in Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, 433 U.S. 425, 97 S.Ct. 2777, 53 L.Ed.2d 867 (1977). The Sentencing Act violates the separation of powers doctrine in both respects.

The Sentencing Act violates the separation of powers by requiring federal judges to assume executive functions more properly entrusted to another branch. As an initial matter the Court finds that, notwithstanding the language in the act placing the Commission in the judicial branch, the Commission is not in fact a judicial agency. The Commission was established as an independent agency in the judicial branch, apparently because of Congress' "strong feeling that, even under this legislation, sentencing should remain primarily a judicial function." S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. 159, reprinted in 1984 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 3182, 3342. Placement of the Commission in the judicial branch, although entitled to deference, is not conclusive. The proper focus of inquiry regarding the placement of the Commission requires an examination of the substance of the character and nature of the composition of the Commission and the responsibilities assigned thereto. See Bowsher, 106 S.Ct. at 3191-92; Chadha, 462 U.S. at 952-54, 103 S.Ct. at 2784-86. Congress' placement of the Commission in the judiciary simply does not bear scrutiny.

The Commission is comprised of seven voting members, at least three of whom must be federal judges, with the Attorney General, or his designee, serving as an ex officio, non-voting member. The voting members are appointed by the President and, most significantly, they are removable by him for good cause. Although somewhat limited, the removal power, at least arguably, makes the commissioners answerable to, and therefore under the control of, the executive branch. See Bowsher, 106 S.Ct. 3181.

The Commission also functions in an executive capacity. Its task is to interpret a law enacted by Congress, and to implement the legislative mandate embodied therein. This is the very essence of execution of the law. Id. at 3192. The Commission's argument, as amicus curiae, that the promulgation of the Guidelines is in aid of the judiciary, carries no force, for Congress has long established sentencing policies. Furthermore, although it is true that many rules promulgated by the federal courts under the Rules Enabling Act have a significant impact on the litigants, the fact remains that these rules govern court administration. To extend this exception to the Guidelines, which clearly affect a...