62
Kennedy, J., concurring in judgment
tion"); United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual ch. 7, pt. A2(a), p. 321 (Nov. 1993) (USSG) ("[T]he Sentencing Reform Act recognized probation as a sentence in itself"). Probation no longer entails some deviation from a presumptive sentence of imprisonment, as the facts of this case illustrate. Granderson's conviction for destruction of mail, when considered in light of his criminal history category, placed him in Zone A of the Guidelines Sentencing Table, which carries a presumptive sentence of 0 to 6 months. The Sentencing Guidelines authorize a sentence of probation for defendants falling within Zone A, see USSG § 5B1.1(a)(1), and set a maximum probation term of five years for the subset of Zone A defendants of which Granderson is a member, see § 5B1.2(a)(1). For defendants like Granderson, then, probation is a sentence available at the initial sentencing, no less so than a sentence of imprisonment. See 18 U. S. C. § 3553(a)(4) (the court, in determining sentence, "shall consider . . . the kinds of sentence and the sentencing range established for the applicable category of offense . . . as set forth in the guidelines") (emphasis added). Because the term "to sentence," if left unadorned, can bear any one of three meanings, Congress took care, as a general matter, to specify the type of punishment called for when it used "sentence" as a verb in Chapter 227 of Title 18, the sentencing provisions of the criminal code. See, e. g., § 3561(a) ("sentenced to a term of probation"), § 3572(e) ("sentenced to pay a fine"), § 3583(a) ("impos[e] a sentence to a term of imprisonment").
Congress was less careful when drafting the provision now before us, which does not specify whether the district court should impose a fine, imprisonment, or another term of probation when revoking the original term of probation on account of drug possession. The Government brushes aside this significant ambiguity, contending that "the language of the statute, in context," demonstrates that Congress "plainly intended" to require imprisonment. Brief for United States
Page: Index Previous 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007