Second Circuit Upholds Downward Departure That Allows Defendant to Enter Drug Treatment Program

IN THE COURTS December 1995

On September 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a lower court's downward departure for a defendant to allow him to enroll in a prison drug rehabilitation program (U.S. v. Williams, No. 94-1694, 65 F.3d 301 (2nd Cir. 1995)).

Michael Williams was convicted of selling crack cocaine to an undercover police officer on two occasions. He was originally sentenced to 130-162 months under the Sentencing Guidelines. The judge determined that there were certain special circumstances in Williams' case that would allow for a sentence reduction to a five-year mandatory minimum and an extension of his supervised release term.

Without the reduction in sentence, Williams would not have been eligible for a prison drug treatment pilot program. The court cautioned that it was not reducing the sentence simply because Williams seemed a likely candidate for treatment, but that a "sentence within the guideline range would effectively deprive him of his only opportunity to rehabilitate himself while incarcerated."