248
Opinion of the Court
ring escape and safeguards the dignity of the court. In this case, for instance, the District Court concluded that a term of imprisonment of 21 months, followed by three years of supervised release, would serve these purposes.18 If we assume that there is merit to petitioner's appeal, then the Eleventh Circuit's dismissal is tantamount to an additional punishment of 15 years for the same offense of flight. Cf. United States v. Snow, 748 F. 2d 928 (CA4 1984).19 Our reasoning in Molinaro surely does not compel that result.
Indeed, as Justice Stewart noted in his dissenting opinion in Estelle v. Dorrough, 420 U. S., at 544-545, punishment by appellate dismissal introduces an element of arbitrariness and irrationality into sentencing for escape.20 Use of the dismissal sanction as, in practical effect, a second punishment for a defendant's flight is almost certain to produce the kind of disparity in sentencing that the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 21 and the Sentencing Guidelines were intended to eliminate.22
18 See supra, at 237-238.
19 "The Court is not condoning [defendant's] flight from justice. However, it presumes his actions constitute an independent crime, i. e., 'escape from custody.' We refrain from punishing [defendant] twice by dismissing his appeal." United States v. Snow, 748 F. 2d, at 930, n. 3.
20 "[T]he statute imposes totally irrational punishments upon those subject to its application. If an escaped felon has been convicted in violation of law, the loss of his right to appeal results in his serving a sentence that under law was erroneously imposed. If, on the other hand, his trial was free of reversible error, the loss of his right to appeal results in no punishment at all. And those whose appeals would have been reversed if their appeals had not been dismissed serve totally disparate sentences, dependent not upon the circumstances of their escape, but upon whatever sentences may have been meted out under their invalid convictions." Estelle, 420 U. S., at 544.
21 18 U. S. C. § 3551 et seq.; 28 U. S. C. §§ 991-998.
22 See generally Mistretta v. United States, 488 U. S. 361 (1989) (discussing purpose of Sentencing Reform Act and Sentencing Guidelines).
The dissent relies heavily on the legitimate interests in avoiding the "specter of inconsistent judgments," as well as in preserving "precious appellate resources." Post, at 255. It must be remembered, however, that the reason appellate resources are precious is that they serve the
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