United States v. Booker

Jump to content

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2005 United States Supreme Court case

United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), is a United States Supreme Court decision on criminal sentencing. The Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial requires that other than a prior conviction, only facts admitted by a defendant or proved beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury may be used to calculate a sentence exceeding the prescribed statutory maximum sentence, whether the defendant has pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial. The maximum sentence that a judge may impose is based upon the facts admitted by the defendant or proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

In its majority decision, the Court struck down the provision of the federal sentencing statute that required federal district judges to impose a sentence within the United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines range, along with the provision that deprived federal appeals courts of the power to review sentences imposed outside the range. The Court instructed federal district judges to impose a sentence with reference to a wider range of sentencing factors set forth in the federal sentencing statute, and it directed federal appeals courts to review criminal sentences for "reasonableness," which the Court left undefined.

The ruling was the direct consequence of the Court's ruling six months earlier in _Blakely v. Washington _, in which the Court had imposed the same requirement on a guidelines sentencing scheme employed in Washington state . Blakely arose out of _Apprendi v. New Jersey _ in which the Court held that except for a prior conviction, any fact that increases the defendant's punishment above the statutory maximum punishment must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Background

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_v._Booker&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: Background")
]

Booker

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_v._Booker&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: Booker")
]

In 2003, Freddie Joe Booker was arrested after police officers found 92.5 grams of crack cocaine in his duffel bag. He later gave a written statement to the police that admitted to selling an additional 566 grams of crack cocaine. In 2003, a jury in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin found Booker guilty of possessing with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of cocaine base . Federal law provided for a statutory sentence of ten years to life in prison.

At sentencing, the judge found by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant (1) distributed 566 grams over and above the 100 grams that the jury had to have found and (2) had obstructed justice. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines , that increased the defendant's base offense level from 32 to 36 (U.S.S.G. §§ 2D1.1(c)(2),(4)). The enhancement for the drug possession and obstruction of justice (U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1) made Booker's sentencing range of 30 years to life; the judge sentenced Booker to the minimum.

Booker appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit , claiming the sentencing guidelines violated his Sixth Amendment rights since the judge was able to find facts absent the findings of the jury, other than his criminal history, to determine his sentencing range. The Seventh Circuit affirmed Booker's conviction but found the application of the Guidelines violated the Sixth Amendment, as interpreted in Blakely, and so reversed Booker's sentence. The Government appealed the Seventh Circuit's ruling to the Supreme Court.

Fanfan

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_v._Booker&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section: Fanfan")
]

Narcotics agents discovered 2.5 kilograms of cocaine and 281.6 grams of cocaine base in Ducan Fanfan's vehicle and arrested him. A jury in the US District Court for the District of Maine found that Fanfan had conspired to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute at least 500 grams of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.  § 846 , 21 U.S.C.  § 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B)(ii). The maximum sentence for Fanfan under the Federal Guidelines, without any additional findings, was 78 months in prison.

At sentencing, the judge, by a preponderance of the evidence, determined that Fanfan was responsible for 2.5 kilograms of cocaine powder and 261.6 grams of crack and was an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor in the criminal activity. That would have resulted 188 to 235 months sentence under the Guidelines, which was a 10-year increase in the sentencing range from what the jury had found. The Supreme Court had issued Blakely four days before the judge imposed Fanfan's sentence. The sentencing judge, believing that Blakely had implications on federal judges increasing sentences on facts not found by juries, imposed the maximum sentence, 78 months, based on the jury's verdict. The government asked the judge to correct Fanfan's sentence, which was denied.

Consolidation

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_v._Booker&action=edit&section=4 "Edit section: Consolidation")
]

The Government filed a notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment in the Supreme Court in the Fanfan case. Because of the importance of the case, the Supreme Court granted the petition, as well as a similar petition for certiorari filed by the government in Booker's case, following the Seventh Circuit's ruling in favor of Booker. The Government asked the Court to determine whether Apprendi applied to the Sentencing Guidelines and which of the Guidelines were constitutional.

Decision

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_v._Booker&action=edit&section=5 "Edit section: Decision")
]

The decision of the Supreme Court was announced by two different groups of Justices. Justice Stevens wrote the majority opinion answering the question of whether the application of the Guidelines in these two cases violated the Sixth Amendment as articulated in the Apprendi line of cases. Justice Breyer wrote the majority opinion answering the question of how to remedy the Sixth Amendment violation identified by the Court.

Constitutional holding

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_v._Booker&action=edit&section=6 "Edit section: Constitutional holding")
]

As applied to modern sentencing schemes, the Sixth Amendment demands that, other than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the defendant's punishment above the statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The "statutory maximum" is the greatest sentence the judge can impose based solely on the jury's fact finding. In a guidelines sentencing scheme that requires judges to impose a sentence within the guideline range, the jury-trial and reasonable-doubt requirements apply to the determination of any fact that exposes the defendant to punishment above the guideline range.

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines, like the Washington sentencing guidelines discussed in _Blakely _, were mandatory; sentencing judges were required to impose sentences within the range dictated by the Guidelines. In this sense, the decision in Blakely dictated the constitutional holding that the rule of Apprendi, as construed in Blakely, applies to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The Government made three principal arguments against applying Blakely to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, all of which the Court rejected.

Commission versus Legislature

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_v._Booker&action=edit&section=7 "Edit section: Commission versus Legislature")
]

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines were promulgated by a sentencing commission ; the Washington sentencing guidelines at issue in Blakely, by contrast, were enacted by that state's legislature. That distinction, the Court said, "lacked constitutional significance," because regardless of the body that set the rules, the rules required sentencing judges to increase sentences on the basis of particular facts not submitted to the jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. "Regardless of whether the legal basis of the accusation [against the defendant] is in a statute or in guidelines promulgated by an independent c

…