No. 22-828

Roger E. Pace v. United States

Lower Court: Seventh Circuit
Docketed: 2023-03-01
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Relisted (2)
Tags: circuit-split criminal-history federal-sentencing mandatory-minimum safety-valve sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation
Key Terms:
FourthAmendment CriminalProcedure Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2024-03-22 (distributed 2 times)
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the 'and' in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(1) means 'and' or 'or' for safety-valve relief from mandatory-minimum sentences

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED Courts interpret statutes by applying Congress’s plain language. In the First Step Act, Congress modified the federal sentencing statute to say that a defendant qualifies for safety-valve relief from a mandatory-minimum sentence if he “does not have” three different qualifiers. Congress enumerated those qualifiers using the conjunctive “and.” Is a defendant who “does not have” all three qualifiers More specifically, the question presented is whether the “and” in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(1) means “and,” so that a defendant is so long as he does not have (A) more than 4 criminal history points, (B) a 3-point offense, and (C) a 2point violent offense (as the Fourth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits hold), or whether the “and” means “or,” so that a defendant is only if he has none of: (A) more than 4 criminal history points, (B) a 3-point offense, or (C) a 2-point violent offense (as the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits hold).

Docket Entries

2024-03-25
Petition DENIED.
2024-03-18
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/22/2024.
2023-05-16
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/1/2023.
2023-05-01
Memorandum of respondent United States filed.
2023-03-22
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including May 1, 2023.
2023-03-21
Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 31, 2023 to May 1, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
2023-02-27
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 31, 2023)

Attorneys

Roger E. Pace
Tom DrysdaleFederal Public Defender, Petitioner
Tom DrysdaleFederal Public Defender, Petitioner
United States
Elizabeth B. Prelogar — Respondent
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent