136
Opinion of Breyer, J.
The Commission's exercise of delegated authority is normally lawful as long as it is reasonable. See, e. g., United States v. Shabazz, 933 F. 2d 1029, 1035 (CADC) (Thomas, J.) (citing Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U. S. 837, 842-845 (1984)), cert. denied sub nom. McNeil v. United States, 502 U. S. 964 (1991). And a unitary system seems perfectly reasonable. Indeed, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure recognize an identical "unitary" system for postjudgment substantial assistance motions. See Fed. Rule Crim. Proc. 35(b) ("[O]n motion of the Government made within one year after the imposition of the sentence," court may reduce sentence "to reflect a defendant's subsequent, substantial assistance"; this may include reduction "to a level below that established by statute as a minimum sentence"). Thus in my view, the Commission had the power to create a "unitary motion system," and is free to maintain such a system, or to change it, in light of evolving criminal justice policies.
In this case, the lower courts accepted the Government's "departure" motion as sufficient to justify a departure below the 135-month Guideline minimum applicable to petitioner's crime, but not sufficient to justify a departure below the applicable 10-year statutory minimum. On a "unitary" view, this disposition could not be correct. Either the motion was sufficient to warrant a departure below the statutory minimum, or it was insufficient to warrant a departure below the Guideline minimum. I would remand this case to the lower courts for further consideration of this case-specific issue.
For these reasons, while agreeing with much of what the Court has written, I dissent from its disposition.
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