The Federal Defenders of
Montana provide primary criminal defense representation to those the court determines are
financially unable to afford a lawyer. An integral part of our purpose is the management and
training of, and assistance to, attorneys of the Criminal Justice Act panel.
Latest News
Email by Amy Baron-Evans -- Kimbrough & Gall go our way
The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the federal guidelines on sentencing for cocaine violations are advisory only, rejecting a lower court ruling that they are effectively mandatory. Judges must consider the Guideline range for a cocaine violation, the Court said, but may conclude that they are too harsh when considering the disparity between punishment for crack cocaine and cocaine in powder form. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the decision in Kimbrough v. U.S. (06-6330).
The ruling validates the view of the U.S. Sentencing Commission that the 100-to-1 crack v. cocaine disparity may exaggerate the seriousness of crack crimes.
Ruling in a second Guidelines case, Gall v. U.S. (06-7949), the Court — also by a 7-2 vote — cleared the way for judges to impose sentences below the specified range and still have such punishment regarded as "reasonable." The Justices, in an opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, told federal appeals courts to use a "deferential abuse-of-discretion standard" even when a trial sets sets a punishment below the range.
Email by Amy Baron-Evans -- Watson Too!
Watson too - a person does not "use" a firearm under 924(c)(1)(A) when he receives in trade for drugs.
The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the federal guidelines on sentencing for cocaine violations are advisory only, rejecting a lower court ruling that they are effectively mandatory. Judges must consider the Guideline range for a cocaine violation, the Court said, but may conclude that they are too harsh when considering the disparity between punishment for crack cocaine and cocaine in powder form. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the decision in Kimbrough v. U.S. (06-6330).
The ruling validates the view of the U.S. Sentencing Commission that the 100-to-1 crack v. cocaine disparity may exaggerate the seriousness of crack crimes.
Ruling in a second Guidelines case, Gall v. U.S. (06-7949), the Court — also by a 7-2 vote — cleared the way for judges to impose sentences below the specified range and still have such punishment regarded as "reasonable." The Justices, in an opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, told federal appeals courts to use a "deferential abuse-of-discretion standard" even when a trial sets sets a punishment below the range.
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