No. 21-5413

Antoine L. Wallace v. United States

Lower Court: Seventh Circuit
Docketed: 2021-08-18
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: circuit-split controlled-substance criminal-procedure drug-offense federal-law sentencing-guidelines state-law statutory-interpretation
Key Terms:
Environmental SocialSecurity Securities Immigration
Latest Conference: 2021-10-08
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does the undefined term 'controlled substance' in the federal Sentencing Guidelines refer to substances controlled by federal law or state law?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED United States Sentencing Guidelines enhance the sentence for drug offenders and gun offenders, if, among other things, they have prior “felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense.” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1; U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a). The Guidelines define “controlled substance offense” as, in part, “an offense under federal or state law, punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, that prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance... .” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(b) (Emphasis added). The Guidelines do not define the term “controlled substance,” and the circuits are openly split on how to do so. The questions presented are: 1. Does the undefined term “controlled substance” in the federal Sentencing Guidelines mean substances that are controlled by federal law (in the form of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA)), or does the term also refer to the myriad definitions found in each state law, such that prior convictions from states with drug schedules broader than the federal CSA qualify as predicate “controlled substance offenses” under the Guidelines? The same question is currently pending before this Court in Atwood v. United States, No. 20-8213. 2. When defining an operative, but undefined, term in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, should courts use analogous federal statutory definitions, state statutory definitions, or judge-made definitions for that term? ii 3. Can a district court impose Guidelines enhancements for “controlled substances” without setting forth a categorical test to differentiate “controlled substances” from non-“controlled substances”? ili

Docket Entries

2021-10-12
Petition DENIED.
2021-09-16
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/8/2021.
2021-09-09
Waiver of right of respondent United States of America to respond filed.
2021-08-13
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due September 17, 2021)

Attorneys

Antoine Wallace, et al.
Colleen McNichols RamaisOffice of the Federal Public Defender, Petitioner
Colleen McNichols RamaisOffice of the Federal Public Defender, Petitioner
United States of America
Brian H. FletcherActing Solicitor General, Respondent
Brian H. FletcherActing Solicitor General, Respondent