Wednesday, October 08, 2008

No Crack Amendment Relief for Career Offender

United States v. Sharkey, ___ F.3d ___, 2008 WL 4482893 (10th Cir. 2008)
Retroactive amendments to crack guidelines do not apply to career offender sentence in this case because according to the COA the amendment did not have the effect of lowering the guideline range for career offender guidelines and therefore a reduction was not authorized under 18 USC § 3582(c)(2) and the sentencing commission policy statements. Although the district court did not reach D’s argument that it separately had the authority under Booker to reduce his sentence through consideration of the § 3553(a) factors , the COA rejects the argument saying that § 3582(c)(2) gives jurisdiction to reduce only when the sentencing commission, not the Supreme Court, has lowered sentencing ranges.