United States v. Baird’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 federal appellate · 3 district ·

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 27 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The court’s authority to downwardly depart is controlled by the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (the “PROTECT Act”). That Act amended 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (b) to restrict the authority of the district courts to depart from the sentencing Guidelines in sexual offense and child pornography cases. 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (b)(2). In cases involving child crimes and sex offenses, downward departures can only be granted for a mitigating circumstance that has been affirmatively and specifically identified as a permissible ground for departure, that has not adequately been taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the Guidelines, and that should result in a different sentence. U.S.S.G. § 5K2.0(b)(l). The PROTECT Act of 2003 eliminated judicial departures for all reasons except those specifically authorized in Chapter Five, Part K, of the Guidelines Manual. Also, post-PROTECT Act, downward departures for Aberrant Behavior under U.S.S.G. § 5K2.20, and for diminished capacity under § 5K2.13 are specifically disallowed for child crimes or sexual offenses. Accordingly, in determining a Guidelines sentence, the court is not authorized to grant a downward departure.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 590 F. Supp. 2d 945 - United States v. Stern

2. “Criminalizing the possession of child pornography is a necessary complement to laws banning distribution of such items, and is intended to destroy the market for exploitation of children,” but recognizing that”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. United States v. Beiermann

3. “'reflect a rough approximation of sentences that might achieve § 3553(a)’s objectives.'”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. United States v. Beiermann