https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/389/challenges.shtml

The fall-out from a pair of Supreme Court decisions upending the nearly 20-year-old federal sentencing guidelines scheme continues. In the latest response to the Supreme Court's dramatic decisions in the Blakely and Booker and Fan Fan cases, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Wednesday federal prisoners within its purview who are appealing their convictions can challenge their sentences.

In the Supreme Court cases, the high court held that only juries -- not judges -- could find facts, such as the amount of drugs involved, that would allow judges to exceed the maximum sentence when punishing offenders. As a result, the court held, the federal sentencing guidelines were unconstitutional and can now only be used in an advisory manner. The 9th Circuit Wednesday held that the only way for the Supreme Court's wishes to be followed was to allow those inmates to challenge their sentences.

The ruling came in USA v. Ameline, in which Alfred Ameline was sentenced to 12 ½ years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in 2002. Ameline did not admit possessing or distributing any quantity of the drug, but the presiding judges accepted prosecutors' contentions that he was responsible for 1,600 grams and sentenced him accordingly. Now, Ameline will be able to have a resentencing hearing. His attorney told the Associated Press he will seek a two-year sentence because the judge errantly accepted the government's estimate of the amount of drugs involved.

	The Ninth Circuit encompasses the nine western states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. (Photo and info from http://www.ce9.uscourts.gov.)

But Ameline isn't the only one who will benefit from the ruling. According to the 9th Circuit's opinion in the case, the number of federal prisoners who will get hearings is "perhaps in the thousands." The 9th Circuit includes nine Far West and Rocky Mountain states.

The 9th Circuit is not the first US Circuit Court to review sentencing in the wake of the Supreme Court rulings, and its decision conflicts with those of some other circuits, which have issued more restrictive opinions. In those circuits, the courts have held that prisoners can seek resentencing only if the record is clear the judge would have issued a different sentence if the guidelines had not been mandatory. With conflicts in the circuit courts, it appears the issue will eventually make its way back to the Supreme Court -- unless Congress, in its infinite wisdom, acts to make the matter moot by rewriting the sentencing laws.

	Please make a generous donation to support Drug War Chronicle in 2007!

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank you.

Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Out from the Shadows HEA Drug Provision Drug War Chronicle Perry Fund DRCNet en Español Speakeasy Blogs About Us Home Why Legalization? NJ Racial Profiling Archive Subscribe Donate DRCNet em Português Latest News Drug Library Search special friends links: SSDP - Flex Your Rights - IAL - Drug War Facts StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet) 1623 Connecticut Ave., NW, 3rd Floor, Washington DC 20009 Phone (202) 293-8340 Fax (202) 293-8344 [email protected]