United States v. Taylor
2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 13811
| 7th Cir. | 2011Background
- Taylor pleaded guilty in a UCMJ case to forcible sodomy and was sentenced to seven months separately.
- Under SORNA, Taylor registered as a sex offender in 2003 and listed East St. Louis as his residence.
- In 2006 Illinois police discovered he no longer lived there and hadn’t updated his registration.
- In 2010, while released on bond for the registration violation, he again changed residences without updating.
- The district court classified Taylor as a Tier III offender and calculated a 24–30 month base range with 5‑life supervised release, sentencing 18 months and 20 years respectively.
- Taylor appealed, challenging the tier classification and the sentence’s reasonableness.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the district court properly classified Taylor as Tier III. | Taylor argues improper tier determination under SORNA. | Taylor contends misapplication of tier category. | Yes; district court correctly applied Tier III under the proper framework. |
| Whether the court could use the modified categorical approach for 10 U.S.C. § 925 sodomy. | Taylor argues modified categorical approach is improper here. | Taylor asserts limited materials may determine guilty sub-plea type. | Yes; court may use limited materials (charging instrument) to identify the pleaded offense. |
| Whether Taylor’s sentence is reasonable under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). | Taylor claims the sentence is unreasonable given range and circumstances. | Taylor contends the sentence falls outside reasonable bounds. | Sentence presumed reasonable within guideline range; 18 months below range but not unreasonable. |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Smith, 544 F.3d 781 (7th Cir. 2008) (categorical approach for tier determination)
- Begay v. United States, 553 U.S. 137 (U.S. Supreme Court, 2008) (limits use of broad statute elements for classification)
- Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13 (U.S. Supreme Court, 2005) (use of extra-statutory materials to determine offense)
- Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1990) (establishes framework for analyzing prior offense elements)
- United States v. Woods, 576 F.3d 400 (7th Cir. 2009) (supports limited additional material to define offense)
- United States v. Mathews, 453 F.3d 830 (7th Cir. 2006) (relevant to offense qualification and sentencing)
- United States v. Franco-Fernandez, 511 F.3d 768 (7th Cir. 2008) (explicitly allows modified categorical approach in similar contexts)
- United States v. Hills, 618 F.3d 619 (7th Cir. 2010) (within-guidelines sentence presumed reasonable)