United States v. Granderson, 511 U.S. 39, 3 (1994)

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Cite as: 511 U. S. 39 (1994)

Opinion of the Court

Gregory S. Smith, by appointment of the Court, 510 U. S. 806, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief was Stephanie Kearns.*

Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court. This case presents a question of statutory interpretation regarding revocation of a federal sentence of probation. The law at issue provides that if a person serving a sentence of probation possesses illegal drugs, "the court shall revoke the sentence of probation and sentence the defendant to not less than one-third of the original sentence." 18 U. S. C. § 3565(a). Congress did not further define the critical term "original sentence," nor are those words, unmodified, used elsewhere in the Federal Criminal Code chapter on sentencing. Embedded in that context, the words "original sentence" in § 3565(a) are susceptible to at least three interpretations.

Read in isolation, the provision could be taken to mean the reimposition of a sentence of probation, for a period not less than one-third of the original sentence of probation. This construction, however, is implausible, and has been urged by neither party, for it would generally demand no increased sanction, plainly not what Congress intended.

The Government, petitioner here, reads the provision to draw the time period from the initially imposed sentence of probation, but to require incarceration, not renewed probation, for not less than one-third of that period. On the Government's reading, accepted by the District Court, respondent Granderson would face a 20-month mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment.

Granderson maintains that "original sentence" refers to the sentence of incarceration he could have received initially,

*Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the American Bar Association by R. William Ide III and Antonio B. Ianniello; and for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers by Stephen R. Sady.

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