Pubdate: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 Source: Philadelphia Daily News (PA) Copyright: 2005 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.phillynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/339 Author: Kitty Caparella Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/federal+sentencing+guidelines Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Blakely Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing) HIGH COURT SAPS SENTENCING RULES Cassius Broaster, once dubbed one of Philadelphia's "worst" violent criminals, was one of nine defendants sentenced under yesterday's U.S. Supreme Court's split decision that found federal sentencing guidelines "unconstitutional." Broaster, 29, the gun-toting suspected drug dealer who has a history of intimidating witnesses, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Patrice Tucker after he pleaded guilty last July to being a convicted felon in possession of a gun. Tucker could have given Broaster probation under the second part of the high court's two-part ruling, which makes the federal sentencing guidelines "advisory," but she followed the guidelines. The first part of the court's 5-4 decision found that federal judges were improperly adding jail time to some sentences. Broaster and his brother, Jerome, are suspects in last Feb. 11's drug-related shootout that killed 10-year-old Faheem Thomas-Childs and injured a school-crossing guard outside T.M. Peirce Elementary School in North Philadelphia. Two years ago, the Broaster brothers were acquitted of a triple murder inside a North Philadelphia speakeasy. Yesterday's high court ruling was the result of a pair of convicted drug dealers' challenging their sentences, one in Maine, the other in Wisconsin. Timothy Rice, chief of the criminal division of the U.S. attorney's office, said "in excess of 100 cases" here would be impacted by the ruling, which nearly eliminated the nearly two-decades-old guidelines. "We indict hundreds of cases a year," said Rice. Anyone who was indicted, pleaded guilty, or is awaiting trial or sentencing, or whose case is on appeal has been impacted by the decision, which was not retroactive. That means everyone from former City Treasurer Corey Kemp to Muslim cleric Shamsud-din Ali and his wife, in the public corruption probe in Philadelphia, would be affected. Even domestic diva Martha Stewart, whose case is on appeal, and ex-mob boss Ralph Natale, who is awaiting sentencing in New Jersey after testifying against his own crime family in a 2001 racketeering trial, are covered by the decision. According to the ruling, Rice said, prosecutors and pre-trial services must still compute sentences under the existing federal sentencing guidelines, but judges are not bound by the guidelines, as they once were. The guidelines "are just not mandatory," he added. The ruling does not appear to cover prisoners who file habeas corpus petitions, such as those charging ineffective counsel, said Rice. Regarding motions for lesser sentences for defendants who cooperate, Rice said, the U.S. attorney's office will continue to follow the same procedures as they have in the past. The guidelines were established to make sure sentences did not vary widely from judge to judge throughout the federal system. Legal experts predict a flood of cases from prisoners claiming they were wrongly sentenced. Some 64,000 federal defendants are sentenced yearly. Justice Department officials said they were disappointed in the ruling, crediting the guidelines with producing tough, uniform sentences that have helped drive crime rates to 30-year lows. Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he would begin working to "establish a sentencing method that will be appropriately tough on career criminals, fair, and consistent with constitutional requirements." Judges will have more freedom to decide for themselves what a fair sentence is, without making factual findings that the high court objected to, said Nancy King, a law professor at Vanderbilt University specializing in sentencing. "It will be interesting to see whether Congress allows this new system a trial run or whether it will step in to impose limits on the judges' discretion," King said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake