United States Second Circuit

Conviction for conspiracy, distribution, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and mixtures containing crack cocaine, following guilty plea, and sentence below the applicable Sentencing Guidelines range solely because of the district court's disagreement with how the Sentencing Guidelines treat offenses involving crack cocaine, is vacated as that district courts do not have the authority to reject unilaterally the 100:1 ratio on policy grounds.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/16/2006
• Published 08/17/2006

Judges

• KATZMANN, Circuit Judge., Before SACK, KATZMANN, Circuit Judges, and MURTHA, District Judge.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Jonathan S. Abernethy, Assistant United States Attorney (Harry Sandick, on the brief), for Michael J. Garcia, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, for Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Joyce C. London (Marshall A. Mintz, on the brief), New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee., Mark Osler, Waco, TX, for The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Drug Law Reform Project, Douglas A. Berman, Michael M. O'Hear, David N. Yellen, and David M. Zlotnick, for amici curiae in Support of Defendant-Appellee.