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Eleventh Circuit summarily (in dicta?) asserts that FSA sentencing changes cannot impact pre-change crimes

By Douglas A. Berman

A few weeks ago in this post, I noted that the Sixth Circuit at the end of a seemingly minor opinion in US v. Carradine, No. 08-3220 (6th Cir. Sept. 20, 2010) (available here), addressed a major issue for any and all defendants hoping to get the an immediate benefit from the new crack sentencing provisions passed by Congress in the Fair Sentencing Act.  And I complained that the Sixth Circuit's analysis struck me as a bit too cursory.  Today, the Eleventh Circuit at the end of a seemingly minor opinion in US v. Gomes, No. 10-11225 (11th Cir. Oct. 1, 2010) (available here), seems to resolve a complex issue being litigated in district courts to a single sentence (of inaccurate? dicta?). Specifically, here is the final sentence of a relatively short opinion in Gomes: "Moreover, because the FSA took effect in August 2010, after appellant committed his crimes, 1 U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on October 01, 2010 (boomark / email).