Stinson v. United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stinson v. United States 508 U.S. 36 (1993) is a decision of the United States Supreme Court, which held that commentary issued by the United States Sentencing Commission (which promulgates the United States Sentencing Guidelines), which interprets or explains a guideline is authoritative unless it violates the Constitution or a federal statute, or is inconsistent with, or a plainly erroneous reading of, that guideline. The official reporter case citation is Stinson v. United States, 508 U.S. 36 (1993). The Stinson decision has had broad influence having been cited in over 1,000 other federal appellate decisions, including both Blakely v. Washington [[1]], 542 U.S. 296 (2004), and United States v. Booker [[2]], 543 U.S. 220 (2005), the cases which rewrote federal guideline sentencing law. The Stinson decision has additionally been cited in over 3,700 appellate briefs and over 250 law reviews.

The case was argued at the Supreme Court March 24, 1993 by William Mallory Kent on behalf of Stinson and Paul J. Larkin for the Solicitor General of the United States. The decision issued May 3, 1993, nine to zero for Stinson. With Mr. Larkin on the Solicitor General's brief were also Acting Solicitor General Bryson, Acting Assistant Attorney General Keeney, and John F. DePue. Robert Augustus Harper filed a brief on behalf of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as amicus curiae.