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Constitutional Law Keyed to Chemerinsky
John M. Mistretta v. United States
Facts
Congress enacted legislation entitled the Sentencing Reform Act (the Act) to revise the failing sentencing process. The Act rejected rehabilitation in favor of deterrence, rehabilitation and retribution and created the Commission to create sentencing guidelines. They sentencing guidelines were made binding on judges with limited discretion. The Defendant, Mistretta (Defendant) was sentencing according to the guidelines to 18 months in jail and a $1,000 fine for selling cocaine. The Defendant argued that the establishment of the guidelines violated the separation-of-powers principle. The district court upheld the guidelines and before the Court of Appeals could rule, the Supreme Court granted review.
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