United States v. Cunningham’s Empirical Analysis
554 F.3d 703 · 2009
Citation profile
17 federal appellate · 2 district ·
Relationships
Applies 18 U.S.C. § 3553 · 18 U.S.C. § 3582 · 21 U.S.C. § 846 (§ 406 of the Controlled Substances Act) · 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996) · 28 U.S.C. § 994
Relies on United States v. Booker · Apprendi v. New Jersey · Blakely v. Washington · Harris v. United States · Chapman v. United States
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 73 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Having chosen to create a modification mechanism, Booker does not require Congress to grant the district courts unfettered discretion in applying it. Indeed, mandatory minimum sentences— which cabin the district courts’ discretion with regard to section 3553(a) factors — have been upheld as constitutional. Section 3582(c)(2)’s direction that courts “shall consider the factors in Section 3553(a) to the extent they are applicable” does not undermine our conclusion. It is true that one of the factors in section 3553(a) is the Guidelines range, which Booker made advisory. However, section 3582(c)(2) states that a district court considers the section 3553(a) factors in making a reduction “consistent with the applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission.” There need not be a conflict: the statute can be viewed as requiring district courts to consider the section 3553(a) factors in deciding whether and to what extent to grant a sentence reduction, but only within the limits of the applicable policy statements.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[T]here is no 'inherent authority' for a district court to modify a sentence as it pleases; indeed a district court's discretion to modify a sentence is an exception to [ § 3582 's] general rule [barring modification].”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“(c) Modification of an imposed term of imprisonment. — The court may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed except that— * * * * * * (2) in the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(o), upon motion of the defendant or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, or on its own motion, the court may reduce the term of imprisonment, after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the extent that they are applicable, if such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.