Compelling reading from the drug war front

In July, US District Judge Gregory Presnell made a strong case for inclusion in my imaginary Sentencing Judges Hall of Fame through his opinion in US v. King, where Judge Presnell not only found the federal sentencing guidelines unconstitutional in light of Blakely, but also identified the illogic in the government's tortured severability claims (background here).  Judge Presnell followed up King with other noteworthy rulings in recent months (accessible here and here) that spotlight injustices in the current federal sentencing system.  And, last week, Judge Presnell in US v. Williams, No. 6:04-cr-69-Orl-31KRS (M.D. Fla. Nov. 30, 2004), once again detailed how ugly the "war on drugs" can appear on the judicial front lines.

Williams, a to-the-point, four-page opinion, can be downloaded below and it is a must-read for anyone concerned about mandatory drug sentencing or cooperation credit or the human realities of our criminal justice system.  Here are some highlights:

Torrey Williams was caught in a sting operation selling 12.3 grams of crack cocaine to an undercover law enforcement officer for a total of $500.00.... [T]he government seeks to impose a sentence of 188-235 months [for this] 24-year-old unemployed African-American male [who] has been convicted of two prior drug-related felonies both involving relatively minor amounts of crack cocaine.

Defendant has metastic medullary thyroid cancer [and his] prognosis is uncertain; however his doctor does note that this form of cancer portends a poorer prognosis than some of the other forms of thyroid cancer. [FOOTNOTE: recent publicity concerning our Chief Justice’s thyroid cancer [suggests] the three-year survival rate for this type of cancer is 20%.] Indeed, the cancer appears to have metastasized into his lungs [and] Defendant will require adjunctive therapy (radiation and chemotherapy) as well as possible additional surgery in the future.

As a result of this medical condition, Defendant moves for a downward departure... [which the law suggests] is appropriate in only "extraordinary circumstances." ... Therefore, the question becomes, is this an "extraordinary circumstance"?  Many people sentenced by this Court are incarcerated with physical or medical disabilities, and the Court has always been assured that the Bureau of Prisons will provide all reasonable and necessary medical care to its inmates. Indeed, it may well be that Defendant would receive better health care as a ward of the federal government than he would as a poor, uneducated and unemployed citizen of this state.

A guideline sentence in this case starkly illustrates the problem of attempting to fit the human experience into a discrete mathematical matrix.  It just can’t be done, and this Court cannot in good conscience do it, because it offends the Court’s concept of justice.... [Departing on th basis of extraordinary physical impairment and overstated criminal history] Defendant will, therefore, be sentenced to a term of 70 months incarceration....

In the meantime, the "war on drugs" goes on. Others will undoubtedly replace Torrey Williams in the chain of drug commerce, and the Courts will continue to incarcerate them for long periods at alarming rates.

Download presnell_williams_sentencing_memo.pdf