David Conrad v. United States

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Per Curiam

David Conrad v. United States

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604

May 24, 2016

Before

WILLIAM J. BAUER, Circuit Judge

RICHARD A. POSNER, Circuit Judge

DAVID F. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge

No. 14-3216 Appeal from the United States DAVID CONRAD, District Court for the Northern Petitioner-Appellant, District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

v. No. 14 C 4343

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Amy J. St. Eve, Judge. Respondent-Appellee.

ORDER

The opinion of this court issued on March 4, 2016, is amended by replacing one paragraph with a new paragraph.

The original paragraph on pages 4 and 5 was:

“It’s true that a change in the guidelines range does not alter the range of permissible sentences, because the judge doesn’t have to sentence within the applicable guidelines range; yet the average length of sentences for the crime in question is, as noted in Peugh, likely to rise as a result of an increase in that range. To call an increase in sentence length, however effectuated, “procedural” seems a misuse of the word. But although the increase in the guidelines range of which the defendant complains both seems substantive and postdated his crime, we don’t think he’s entitled to be resentenced.” Appeal No. 14-3216 Page 2

The replacement paragraph is:

“It’s true that a change in the guidelines range does not alter the range of permissible sentences, because the judge doesn’t have to sentence within the applicable guidelines range; yet the average length of sentences for the crime in question is, as noted in Peugh, likely to rise as a result of an increase in that range. To call an increase in sentence length, however effectuated, “procedural” might seem a misuse of the word. But the Supreme Court has reserved the label “substantive” (meaning therefore retroactive) for rules that change the sentence that a judge can lawfully impose. See Schriro v. Summerlin, supra, 542 U.S. at 352. A change in the guidelines affects the sentence that a judge is likely to impose but does not alter the range of sentences that he can lawfully impose. So although the increase in the guidelines range of which the defendant complains in this case not only postdated his crime but also could have had a significant effect on his sentence, he is not entitled to be resentenced.”

Reference

Status
Published