Amicus Briefs
U.S. v Jeffrey Havis
CASE SUMMARY
Jeffery Havis was sentenced to federal prison in reliance on a provision of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual that was passed without required Congressional approval. The Guidelines set presumptive criminal sentences and were written by a federal agency. But because of their impact on individual liberty, they required approval by Congress.
Mr. Havis was sentenced, however, by a provision of the guidelines that was never sent to Congress for approval. This violated fundamental separations of powers required by the constitution. After unsuccessfully appealing his sentence before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, NCLA filed an amicus brief in support of review by the full Court en banc.
The Court granted review and vacated the enhancement.