My Sixth Circuit amicus brief effort now filed explaining my Eighth Amendment FSA views in Blewett

As regular readers likely recall, a little over a month ago a split Sixth Circuit panel in US v. Blewett, No. 12-5226 (6th Cir. May 17, 2013) (available here), used equal protection principles to justify giving the new crack statutory sentencings levels of the Fair Sentencing Act retroactive effect.  In my first post about the Blewett ruling, I noted that I was unsure that a "Fifth Amendment equal protection theory provides a strong constitutional foundation" for Blewett, but I also suggested, "in the wake of the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act and the USSC's implementation of its new 18-1 crack guidelines retroactively, that a proper application of the Eighth Amendment could and should provided a reasoned and reasonable basis to give full retroactive effect to all the provisions of the FSA." 

A couple of weeks ago, as reported in this post, the Sixth Circuit responded to the Government's en banc petition with a letter to the parties express seeking additional briefing "addressing whether the Blewetts’ punishment in this case based on a 100-to-1 ratio of crack to powder cocaine is constitutionally disproportionate in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause. "  Ever interested in sharing my perspectives in full glossy detail, I have spent the last few days finalizing an amicus brief on behalf of NACDL explaining my Eighth Amendment thinking and that brief was filed with the Sixth Circuit (and with the consent of the parties) this afternoon.

For those following the Blewett case or interested in FSA retroactivity arguments, I recommend reading my 15-page filing in full (and I have provided the full document for downloading below).  Here are a few passages that capture some of the themes to be found in the brief:

Through passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (FSA), Congress significantly reduced the sentences mandated and recommended for all crack offenses (1) by raising by over 500% the quantity of crack triggering five- and ten-year minimum sentences, and (2) by ordering the U.S. Sentencing Commission to reduce all crack guideline sentences through emergency amendments to be promulgated “as soon as practicable.”  See Sections 2 & 8 of FSA.  As the Supreme Court has explained, this landmark legislation reflected Congress’ formal response to “the Commission and others in the law enforcement community strongly criticiz[ing] Congress’ decision to set” crack sentences so high relative to powder cocaine sentences and Congress having “specifically found in the Fair Sentencing Act that [each pre-FSA crack] sentence was unfairly long.”  Dorsey v. United States, 132 S. Ct. 2321, 2328, 2333 (2012).  In other words, passage of the FSA is a clear, bold and unmistakable legislative statement by our nation’s representatives that pre-FSA crack sentences were unnecessarily severe, unfair and excessively long.

While the text of the FSA provides the clearest objective evidence of the national consensus against the extreme pre-FSA crack sentencing provisions, federal practices, reflected in the work of other branches both before and after the FSA’s passage, confirm that the now-repealed 100-1 crack/powder cocaine sentencing scheme has long been rejected by all significant federal sentencing decision-makers....

It is not merely notable, but of great constitutional import, that virtually every federal criminal justice actor has in virtually every possible way acted in the last half-decade to demonstrate and vindicate the consensus view that pre-FSA crack sentences were excessively long.  Significantly, in recent Eighth Amendment cases such as Miller and Graham and Kennedy and Roper and Atkins, the Supreme Court found unconstitutional extreme sentences that were still being vigorously defended by the jurisdictions which imposed them.  Here, in sharp contrast, not only have the pre-FSA crack sentences imposed on the Blewetts been repealed by Congress, it is near impossible to find a single modern federal criminal justice decision-maker who will voice any substantive defense of the pre-FSA 100-1 crack sentencing structure.

Download Blewett Amicus NACDL

Related posts on Blewett:

• On (wrong?) constitutional grounds, split Sixth Circuit panel gives full retroactive effect to new FSA crack sentences
• "Crackheaded Ruling by Sixth Circuit"
• How quickly can and will (hundreds of) imprisoned crack defendants file "Blewett claims"?
• Two weeks later, has there been any significant and noteworthy Blewett blowback?
• As expected, feds ask full Sixth Circuit to review and reverse Blewett crack retroactivity ruling
• Sixth Circuit calls for briefing on Eighth Amendment in Blewett crack sentencing retroactivity case