Eighth Circuit panel affirms (within-guideline) sentence of 2.5 years for illegal possession of a single bullet

Decade of study can make one nearly numb to the variety of remarkable stories involving our criminal justice systems ordering people to live long periods in cages for what seems like relatively minor crimnal activity.  But I was still struck by an Eighth Circuit ruling this week in US v. Brown, No. 20-1377 (8th Cir. Feb 2, 2021) (available here), highlighting how minor convicted conduct can lead to major federal prison time.  Here are the basics fron a unanimous per curiam unpublished opinion (with cites removed):

The district court1 sentenced Deaviea David Brown to 30 months of imprisonment after Brown pled guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition—a single bullet. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2). On appeal, Brown contends that sentence is substantively unreasonable and violates the Eighth Amendment. We affirm….

Because Brown’s sentence is at the bottom of the Guidelines range, we presume the sentence is reasonable. Brown did not rebut that presumption.  We also note that during the sentencing hearing, the district court specifically addressed the § 3553(a) factors.  We see no basis to conclude either that the district court improperly weighed the § 3553(a) factors or that the sentence it imposed was substantively unreasonable….

[T]he proportionality principle in Eighth Amendment law is quite limited. Under this standard, the proportionality argument presented simply lacks sufficient basis for this court to conclude that Brown’s sentence — which was at the bottom of the recommended Guidelines range — is one of those “exceedingly rare” cases that raises the gross-disproportionality inference.  While 30 months of imprisonment for possession of a single bullet may seem, on its surface, disproportionate, the penalty relates to the prohibition on convicted felons possessing ammunition of any amount. The sentence does not violate the Eighth Amendment.

I have not yet found any more information about the district court sentencing online, but I would guess there is a significant backstory as to why Mr. Brown was federal prosecuted and sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison for possession of a single bullet. (There was a significant backstory when the Sixth Circuit affirmed a 15-year ACCA sentence for possession of seven shotgun shells some years ago.)  But I am always troubled when a serious sentence is based on some unclear backstory rather than on the seriousness of the actual offense conduct that produced the conviction.

Notably and annoyingly, the panel keeps stressing that the 30-month sentence here was at the bottom of the applicable guideline range.  For me, that fact serves to condemn the federal sentencing guidelines, not justify this extreme sentence.  It is also an important reminder that, even 15+ years after Booker made the guidelines advisory, they still have an adverse impact on justice and still need a thorough rewrite.

I am especially troubled by the facile rejection of the Eighth Amendment claim by the panel in these terms: “While 30 months of imprisonment for possession of a single bullet may seem, on its surface, disproportionate, the penalty relates to the prohibition on convicted felons possessing ammunition of any amount.”  This strike me as tantamount to a statement that there could never be a constitutionally disproportionate sentence for shoplifting a candybar because a severe penalty is critical to keep people from stealing any amount of goods.  Put simply, 30 months of imprisonment for possession of a single bullet does seem disproportionate, and the Eighth Circuit panel should have at least conducted a full Eighth Amendment proportionality analysis (which would show, I think, that this this behavior is not even criminal in many states and not a felony in most).