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extraordinary circumstances

Gall v. United States

Issues

Can a district court impose a sentence outside of the range recommended by the United States Sentencing Guidelines without providing an extraordinary reason to justify the deviation?

 

In 2000, Brian Michael Gall was involved in a drug ring for approximately 8 months. Five years later, he pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. The judge sentencing Gall chose to impose a sentence far below the sentence range recommended by the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“Guidelines”) because of Gall’s exemplary and law-abiding behavior after he left the conspiracy. On appeal, this sentence was held unreasonable because of its great deviation from the sentence range recommended by the Guidelines. In two recent cases, the Supreme Court held that requiring a judge to impose a sentence within the Guidelines sentence range violates the Sixth Amendment, but that a sentence within the Guidelines range can be presumed reasonable. Consequently, though courts are not required to sentence within the Guidelines range, they are expected to consider the range in their sentencing decisions, and it is uncertain how much discretion they have to depart from the range. Gall v. United States will clarify the role of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines in sentencing decisions and what justification is needed for a departure from the Guidelines sentencing range.

 

    Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties

    Whether, when determining the “reasonableness” of a district court sentence under United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), it is appropriate to require district courts to justify a deviation from the United States Sentencing Guidelines with finding of extraordinary circumstances.

     

    In early 2000, Brian Michael Gall, began selling methylenedioxymethamphetamine (“MDMA” or ecstasy) as part of a drug distribution ring in Iowa. U.S. v. Gall, 446 F.3d 884, 885 (8th Cir. 2006). Gall would purchase MDMA in 1,000 tablet increments, and then sell the tablets to others whom he knew were distributing the drug in the community. Id. While part of the drug conspiracy, Gall earned $30,000 to $40,000 in profit. Brief for Petitioner at 2. In September 2000, Gall decided to leave the drug conspiracy. Gall, 446 F.3d at 886.

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