2020 Election Distracts Congress from Further Reform, But
Empowers Courts to Act
by Derek Gilna
Congress'
new impeachment preoccupation indicates that it has given up on serious
legislating until after the 2020 elections,. Federal judges have taken notice
and are already filling the vacuum. A newer generation of judicial activists
are pushing back against some sentencing injustices, newly empowered by the
First Step Act. That, combined with more focused looks into the appropriateness
of prior offenses by reviewing courts, means that there are multiple methods to
attack sentences. The large number of sentence reductions and shrinking
prisoner population figures bear this out.
Of course, a
2255 petition alleging inadequate representation of counsel continues to be the
preferred method. Don't let the opportunity to challenge your sentence pass by
without at least considering this avenue for relief.
As the
Supreme Court prepares for its Fall term, let us review some its major
decisions of the past term. Of course, we know that in US Davis 8-24-19 ) the court struck down the
unconstitutionally vague residual clause in 18 USC
Section 924(c)(3)(B), supplementing the holding of Johnson and Dimaya. In US USC
Section 3583(k, finding that it was contrary to Alleyne, reaffirming that any
facts increasing a mandatory minimum must be found by a jury.
In the
First Circuit, In US v Mohamed, 920 F.3d 94 (4-3-19 ). the court vacated and remanded a sentence for
being a felon in possession, since the prior state conviction in Maine 4-10-19 ) the court
remanded a cyber stalking case where the DC misapplied a 2-level enhancement
for violation of a court protection order where it was not properly served.
In the
Fourth Circuit, in US v. Smith, (9-27-19,) the reversed a conviction under 18 USC
922(G), finding that NC conditional-discharge pleas are not a conviction for
purposes of Subsection 921 and 922, and he was not therefore a felon in
possession.
In the Eighth Circuit, in Lofton v US 4-5-19 ), the
court reversed and remanded the denial of a 2255 petition, which asserted that
327 month ACCA sentence
could not be increased as a result of an Illinois
The Ninth
Circuit, in US v. Graves, 925 F.3d 1036 (5-30-19,) vacated and remanded a
mandatory life sentence for conspiracy to distribute meth, conspiracy to
distribute marijuana, and possession of meth, holding that prior state
convictions for inmate drug possession in California did not qualify as
predicate felony drug offenses because it was indivisible and overbroad.
Federal Legal Center, Inc.
Derek A. Gilna, JD, Director
(Also in Indiana
