United States v. Holcomb, No. 16-2077 (10th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePercy Holcomb invoked U.S. Sentencing Guidelines section 1B1.10(b)(2)(B) in 2014, seeking reduction of the sentence that he had received in 2002. But in 2011, the U.S. Sentencing Commission tightened 1B1.10(b)(2)(B)’s eligibility requirements. This tightening worked against Holcomb: Under the 2002 version, he would have been eligible for relief; under the 2014 version, he was not. The district court applied the 2014 version and held that Holcomb was ineligible for relief under 1B1.10(b)(2)(B). According to Holcomb, application of the 2014 version resulted in a violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause, exceeded the Sentencing Commission’s statutory authority, and usurped the judiciary’s authority to determine an appropriate sentence. The Tenth Circuit rejected these challenges: Tenth Circuit precedent foreclosed relief under the Ex Post Facto Clause, Congress authorized the Sentencing Commission to determine the retroactivity of its amendments, and § 1B1.10(b)(2)(B) did not usurp a judicial function.
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