Death by a Thousand Cases: After Booker, Rita, and Gall, the Guidelines Still Violate the Sixth Amendment

43 Pages Posted: 31 Mar 2008 Last revised: 29 Oct 2008

See all articles by David C. Holman

David C. Holman

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

Paul Sedore pleaded guilty to two counts for defrauding the Internal Revenue Service, conspiracy to defraud the IRS and identity theft. Based only on the facts that Sedore admitted in his guilty plea and his criminal history, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines would have recommended 12 to 18 months in prison. But based on the facts that the sentencing judge found, by a preponderance of the evidence, which Sedore did not admit and the jury did not find beyond a reasonable doubt, the Guidelines advised a range of 84 to 105 months. The court sentenced Sedore to 84 months. Had another judge sentenced Sedore to 84 months without finding those additional facts, the court of appeals would likely reverse the sentence as unreasonable.

The Sentencing Guidelines are hardly as advisory as the Supreme Court imagines. In United States v. Booker, the Supreme Court tried and failed to establish an appellate standard of review of sentences that both promotes uniformity and does not violate the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. In Rita v. United States and Gall v. United States, the Court considered mechanisms that federal appellate courts use to enforce the Sentencing Guidelines, the presumption of reasonableness and proportionality review. As in Booker, the Court tried and failed to rein in the courts' infringements on the jury trial right. By closely examining cases from the Sixth and Tenth Circuits through July 2008, as well as notable cases from other circuits, this Note demonstrates how the combination of the presumption of reasonableness, the double standard of procedural reasonableness, and proportionality review still violate the Sixth Amendment. Short of Congressional overhaul, this Note argues that the Supreme Court should solve its inherently flawed Booker remedy by prohibiting substantive reasonableness review and requiring uniform sentencing explanations from district courts.

Keywords: sentencing, Sixth Amendment, jury trial, Sixth Circuit, Tenth Circuit, Apprendi, Blakely, Booker, Rita, Gall

Suggested Citation

Holman, David C., Death by a Thousand Cases: After Booker, Rita, and Gall, the Guidelines Still Violate the Sixth Amendment (2008). William & Mary Law Review, Vol. 50, p. 269, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1114224

David C. Holman (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

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