United States v. Aaron Thompson

The government appeals the district court’s sentencing of Aaron Thompson to forty-four months for possession and distribution of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(2) and 2252A(a)(5)(B). The issue is whether the extent of the district court’s downward departure from the United States Sentencing Guidelines was reasonable in light of the rationale given for the departure. The district court’s basis for departure was its conclusion that Thompson was not in the “heartland” of the offenses for which he was convicted. Viewing this differently under applicable law, we conclude that the *1073 district court abused its discretion in sentencing Thompson to forty-four months based on its “heartland” conclusion.

In justifying the downward departure, the district court treated as persuasive a number of considerations that in our view were not adequate to remove Thompson from the heartland. Those considerations included Thompson’s background, education, and family history, as well as his low risk of engaging in sexual offenses against children and his need for rehabilitative therapy. None of these factors individually, nor all of them collectively, warranted the conclusion…

concurring:

I write separately to point out two features of Aaron Thompson’s Presentence Report that could have been considered by the district court as favoring downward departure, as well as to suggest that district court downward departures in similar cases involving child pornography have become so frequent as to indicate a pattern that may merit consideration by the Sentencing Commission.

1. Thompson’s Presentence Report contained a list of “factors that may warrant departure.” One encompassed the “heartland” factors that we find the district judge improperly applied. I agree with this holding. While “the Sentencing Guidelines do not displace the traditional role of a district judge in bringing compassion and common sense to the sentencing process” so that “in areas where the Sentencing Commission has not spoken — areas outside the heartland cases considered in the Guidelines — district courts should not hesitate to use their discretion in devising sentences that provide individualized justice ... they [must] give reasons for their departure that allow us to ensure that the departure was permissible under the law.” United States v. Williams, 65 F.3d 301, 309-10 (2d…

315 F.3d 1071 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Aaron THOMPSON, Defendant-Appellee. No. 01-30279. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted September 10, 2002. Filed December 6, 2002. William W. Mercer, United States Attorney, and Marcia Good Sept, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Billings, MT, for plaintiff-appellant United States of America. Wendy Holton, Attorney at Law, Helena, MT, for defendant-appellee Aaron Thompson. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana; Donald W. Molloy, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-00-00108-DWM. Before BEEZER, GOULD, and BERZON, Circuit Judges. GOULD, Circuit Judge: 1 The government appeals the district court's sentencing of Aaron Thompson to forty-four months for possession and distribution of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(2) and 2252A(a)(5)(B). The issue is whether the extent of the district court's downward departure from the United States Sentencing Guidelines was reasonable in light of the rationale given for the departure. The district court's basis for departure was its conclusion that Thompson was not in the "heartland" of the…