Federal Judiciary

Argument preview: Are sentences fixed by a plea agreement ?based on? a guideline sentencing range?

By Adam Schlossman

On Wednesday, in Freeman v. United States, the Court will consider whether a defendant is ineligible for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), which allows a district court to reduce a term of imprisonment after it has been imposed if the defendant was sentenced based on a sentencing range that the U.S. Sentencing Commission subsequently lowered, because the district court accepted a plea agreement pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C), which binds the district court as to sentence once it accepts the plea.

Douglas Berman, the William B. Saxbe Designated Professor of Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, previews the case for the American Bar Association?s PREVIEW of U.S. Supreme Court Cases; the ABA has generously agreed to share some of its previews ? which are authored by practitioners and scholars in the field ? with SCOTUSblog. You can read Professor Berman?s preview here; PREVIEW?s website is here.

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on February 17, 2011 (boomark / email).