Whether proof of proximate cause is required for the 'death results' sentencing enhancement under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B)

QUESTION PRESENTED This Court granted certiorari in Burrage v. United States, 569 U.S. 957 (2013), to decide two questions concerning the “death results” sentencing enhancement of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B), but did not reach the second question. This case presents the second question that Burrage did not answer. Section 841(b)(1)(B) of the federal sentencing guidelines requires mandatory life imprisonment for a defendant who commits a drug offense and “death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substance.” (emphasis added). Burrage undertook to decide whether the phrase “results from” requires the Government to prove: (1) the drug sold by the defendant was the “cause-in-fact” of the victim’s death; and (2) “the victim’s death by drug overdose was a foreseeable result of the defendant's drug trafficking offense.” Burrage v. United States, 569 U.S. 957 (2013). This Court unanimously held that proof of “but-for” causation was required and reversed the defendant's conviction. It therefore had no occasion to decide whether proof of “proximate cause” (that the victim’s death was foreseeable) was also required. The circuit courts have uniformly dispensed with any proximate cause requirement, even though Burrage expressly recognized that proof of proximate cause is generally required “[w]hen a crime requires ‘not merely conduct but also a specified result of conduct.’”” 134 S.Ct. at 887. Instead, the circuits treat drug trafficking that i 302424324v1 0996248 results in death as a strict liability offense for which life imprisonment is required no matter how far down the chain of distribution the victim stood, and regardless of whether the victim’s death was reasonably foreseeable. This case squarely presents the proximate cause question Burrage intended to address but did not reach. Here, the victim was many steps removed from the defendant's initial drug sale, and there was evidence that the same drug was ingested by others in quantities much greater than what the victim took with no adverse effect. Given the frequency with which Congress uses the “results from” calculus in penal statutes, and the disproportionate impact the “death results” sentencing enhancement has on minorities, the issue Burrage undertook to decide, but left unanswered, remains a matter of critical national importance. ii 302424324v1 0996248