Lead Opinion
Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge GARLAND, with whom all members of the court join.
Concurring opinion filed by Chief Judge EDWARDS and Circuit Judge TATEL.
Concurring opinion filed by Circuit Judge SENTELLE.
Concurring opinion filed by Circuit Judge HENDERSON.
Under section 5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G.), a district court may sentence a criminal defendant below the guideline range prescribed for the offense, “[ujpon motion of the government stating that the defendant has provided substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense.” U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1, p.s. (1997).
I
A district court is generally required to impose a criminal sentence from within the range prescribed by the Sentencing Guidelines. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b). That range is calculated by identifying the guideline keyed to the defendant’s offense conduct, applying certain specified adjustments, and coordinating the adjusted offense level with a criminal history category based on the defendant’s prior criminal conduct. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.1. Employing that analysis in this case, the district court calculated the applicable guideline range and sentenced defendant to forty months in prison, a point in the middle of the range.
In In re Sealed Case (Sentencing Guidelines’ “Substantial Assistance”),
The question at issue here — whether a district court may depart without a motion under any circumstances — -is a question of law which we effectively review de novo. See United States v. Sun-Diamond Growers,
II
Our analysis begins with the language of section 5K1.1, which reads, in relevant part; “Upon motion of the government stating that the defendant has provided substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense, the court may depart from the guidelines.” The question is whether the United States Sentencing Commission intended the phrase, “[ujpon motion of the government,” to mean only upon motion of the government. In Ortez, and in five subsequent opinions issued prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in Koon, we held that a government motion was a prerequisite for a substantial assistance departure.
To be sure, the language of section 5K1.1 is susceptible to more than one reading. Although the section clearly provides that if the government moves the court may depart, it does not necessarily compel the inverse proposition' — that if the government does not move the court may not depart. The legal maxim expressio unius est exdusio alterius (“the mention of one thing implies the exclusion of another”) is not always correct. Rather, as we recently noted, “[t]he maxim’s force in particular situations depends entirely on context, whether or not the draftsmen’s mention of one thing, like a grant of authority, does really necessarily, or at least reasonably, imply the preclusion of alternatives.” Shook v. D.C. Fin. Responsibility & Management Assistance Auth.,
In the present context, however, it is clear that by authorizing departures with government motions, the Commission did intend to preclude departures without motions. This is clear because the Commission borrowed the phrasing of section 5K1.1 from two other provisions whose preclusive meaning is well-established, and which in turn borrowed from a tradition of similar statutory provisos that have been interpreted in the same way.
The Commission’s authority to promulgate section 5K1.1 arises from Congress’ instruction, in 28 U.S.C. § 994(n), that the Commission “assure that the guidelines reflect the appropriateness of imposing a lower sentence than would otherwise be imposed ... to take into account a defendant’s substantial assistance....” Notably, Congress did not require the Commission to include an “upon motion of the government” proviso for guideline departures based on substantial assistance. See Melendez v. United States,
Section 3553(e) governs the circumstances under which a district court may select a sentence below a mandatory minimum set by a congressional statute — as compared to section 5K1.1, which applies to the selection of a sentence below a Sentencing Commission guideline. Section 3553(e) states:
Upon motion of the Government, the court shall have the authority to impose a sentence below a level established by statute as minimum sentence so as to reflect a defendant’s substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense. Such sentence shall be imposed in accordance with the guidelines and policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to section 994 of title 28, United States Code.
18 U.S.C. § 3553(e). In Melendez v. United States, the Supreme Court interpreted section 3553(e) to “require! ] a Government motion ... before the court may impose such a sentence.”
Rule 35(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure governs the reduction of a defendant’s sentence for substantial assistance provided after the initial sentence was imposed. After the 1986 amendment, the Rule read:
The court, on motion of the Government, may within one year after the imposition of a sentence, lower a sentence to reflect a defendant’s subsequent, substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense, in accordance with the guidelines and policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to section 994 of title 28, United States Code.
Fed.R.Crim.P. 35(b)(1987).
Moreover, sections 5K1.1 and 3553(e), and Rule 35(b), are part of a congressional tradition of placing similar provisos in statutes that implicate issues of prosecutorial discretion and judgment. For example, 18 U.S.C. § 6003(a) provides that, “upon the request of the United States attorney for such district,” a district court shall issue an order compelling the immunized testimony of a witness who refuses to testify. Likewise, the Ethics in Government Act provides that, “[ujpon receipt of an application” from the Attorney General, a special division of this court shall appoint an independent counsel. 28 U.S.C. § 593(b)(1). As with section 3553(e) and Rule 35(b), these statutes have been read to mean that courts may act only upon a request from the government. See United States v. Doe,
The process of evaluating the extent and significance of a defendant’s “assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person” falls well within this tradition. See Wade v. United States,
In Wade v. United States,
But Wade’s dicta in that direction could hardly have been stronger. For example, the Court described the “upon motion” clause of both section 3553(e) and section 5K1.1 as “the condition limiting the court’s authority”:
Wade concedes, as a matter of statutory interpretation, that § 3553(e) imposes the condition of a Government motion upon the district court’s authority to depart, and he does not argue otherwise with respect to § 5K1.1.... Wade’s position is consistent with the view, which toe think is clearly correct, that in both § 8558(e) and § 5K1.1 the condition limiting the court’s' authority gives the Government a power, not a duty, to file a motion when a defendant has substantially assisted.
As noted above, the Court held in Melendez v. United States,
Because the Sentencing Commission has not issued an interpretation of the meaning of section 5K1.1, there is no administrative construction to which we may defer. Cf. Stinson v. United States,
Ill
In arguing that a district court may depart even in the absence of a government motion, the defendant contends that Koon wrought a transformation in the law so fundamental as to overrule our earlier decision in Ortez and, implicitly, to render inappropriate the kind of interpretative method employed above. No other circuit has adopted this view. To the contrary, in numerous post -Koon cases, the circuits have continued to rule that departures require government motions.
In this Part, we first set forth the Supreme Court’s analysis in Koon, and then discuss the defendant’s contentions and our own conclusions regarding the relevance of Koon to section 5K1.1.
A
In Koon, the Supreme Court considered the standard of review applicable to a district court’s decision to depart from a guideline sentencing range, and concluded that the appropriate standard was abuse of discretion.
Koon began by noting that the authority of a district court to depart' from the Guidelines derives from 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b), which permits departure if “the court finds that there exists an aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guidelines.... ” To determine “whether a circumstance was adequately taken into consideration by the Commission,” the Court said, “Con
Koon further noted, however, that “[sentencing courts are not left adrift” as to which factors may be considered in making departures, and how such consideration should proceed. First, certain factors are “forbidden,” and can never be used as bases for departure. Id. at 94-95,
Finally, under the Koon taxonomy, if a factor is neither forbidden, encouraged nor discouraged, it is “unmentioned.” An unmentioned factor may be used as the basis for departure if “it is sufficient to take the case out of the [applicable] Guideline’s heartland” — i.e., the range of typical cases to which the guideline was meant to apply. Id. Koon cautioned, however, that “the Commission’s expectation [was] that departures based on grounds not mentioned in the Guidelines will be ‘highly infrequent.’ ” Id. (quoting U.S.S.G. Ch. 1, Pt. A).
B
In applying the Koon taxonomy to the instant • case, defendant begins with the proposition that the factor at issue here— which he describes as “substantial assistance without a government motion” — is not a forbidden factor. It is not forbidden, he contends, because nothing in the Sentencing Guidelines expressly prohibits departures in the absence of government motions. Although he regards “substantial assistance with a government motion” as an encouraged factor, he does not contend that assistance without a motion is also encouraged. He does, however, deny that it is discouraged, since, again, “the Guidelines nowhere expressly discourage departures based on ‘substantial assistance without a government motion.’ ” Def. Supp. Br. at 10 (internal quotation omitted).
This leaves only the “unmentioned” category, which is where defendant places substantial assistance without a motion. Koon, he contends, requires that the Guidelines be interpreted precisely. If a factor has not been expressly mentioned, then it has not been adequately taken into account by the Commission. Because substantial assistance without a motion has not been expressly mentioned, defendant argues that like any other unmentioned factor it can be the basis of a departure where circumstances take the case out of the relevant guideline heartland. Thus, he concludes, Koon effectively overrules Or-tez.
We approach with some skepticism the contention that Koon effectively overruled Ortez, and with it scores of cases in this and other circuits. Section 5K1.1 was neither at issue, nor mentioned, in the Koon
Our general skepticism aside, we reject the defendant’s proposed application of Koon to section 5K1.1 for two specific reasons. First, he misidentifies the departure factor at issue in this case, and hence misplaces the factor within the Koon taxonomy. Second, he incorrectly assumes that a “clear statement” canon governs the reading of the entire Guidelines Manual, and particularly of section 5K1.1.
The relevant departure factor here is neither “substantial assistance to authorities without a government motion” nor “substantial assistance to authorities with a government motion.” Rather, the appropriate characterization of the factor is the one the Commission itself used in titling section 5K1.1: “Substantial Assistance to Authorities,” simpliciter. The government motion proviso is a procedural limitation upon the applicability of the factor, but it is not a defining aspect of the factor itself.
As Koon explained, a departure factor is an “aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Commission.”
Once the factor actually at issue here is identified, its place in the Koon taxonomy becomes clear. Substantial assistance to authorities cannot be an unmentioned factor since it is specifically mentioned in section 5K1.1. Nor is it in any way telling, as the defendant contended at oral argument, that this factor was not included in the list of forbidden factors catalogued in Koon. See
This is not to deny that substantial assistance remains unlike the other departure factors discussed in Koon. It is the only one that comes with a procedural limitation — the motion requirement discussed above.
Our second disagreement with defendant is with his underlying assumption that, post-Koon, a “clear statement” canon governs every aspect of the Guidelines Manual. He urges us to permit departures without motions because the Guidelines “nowhere expressly • address ‘substantial assistance without a government motion.’ ” Def. Supp. Br. at 10 (citation omitted) (emphasis added). The emphasized word, however, is not to be found in Koon itself, and certainly not in Melendez which was decided just four days later. See Melendez,
It is true that in Koon, the Court held that even though the Guidelines (in § 5H1.10) make socioeconomic status a forbidden factor, a defendant’s job loss remains an unmentioned, permissible one. “[Sjocioeconomic status and job loss,” the Court said, “are not the semantic or practical equivalents of each other.”
Moreover, the reason the Supreme Court looked to semantic or practical equivalence in Koon was that it was a sensible way to determine whether the factors at issue there were sufficiently similar to indicate that the Commission’s consideration of one meant it had also considered the other. In Koon, it was not hard to imagine that the Commission could have considered the relevance of a defendant’s pre-offense socioeconomic status (which would go to the question of culpability), without at the same time considering the relevance of post-conviction job loss (which would go to the quite different question of collateral punishment). -As the Court said, “the link is not so close.”
IV
In this Part, we consider defendant’s additional argument that even if a court lacks authority to depart without a motion under section 5K1.1, it has an independent source of departure authority under Guidelines § 5K2.0. That section begins by stating:
Under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b), the sentencing court may impose a sentence outside the range established by the applicable guidelines, if the court finds ‘that there exists an aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guidelines.... ’
Subsequent sentences note that the Commission has identified certain factors that may warrant departure from the Guidelines, and discuss circumstances under which departures based on those factors, as well as additional factors, may be appropriate. Subsequent guideline sections identify eighteen such specific factors. U.S.S.G. §§ 5K2.1-5K2.18.
As the now-familiar language quoted above suggests, defendant’s argument from section 5K2.0 is essentially the same argument we considered in Part III, dressed in not very different clothes. Section 3553(b), quoted in the first line of section 5K2.0, is the statutory source of authority for all departures. And the subsequent sentences of- section 5K2.0 form part of the basis for the departure taxonomy the Court developed in Koon. But Koon did not suggest that section 5K2.0 was a source of authority for substantial assistance departures independent of section 5K1.1. Accordingly, defendant’s specific reference to this section adds little to the argument rejected in Part III. Indeed, as defense counsel conceded at oral argument, if we read section 5K1.1 as saying that a substantial assistance departure is permissible only upon motion of the government, then we cannot read section 5K2.0 as countermanding that injunction. And as we have already read section 5K1.1 that way, and as we find nothing in section 5K2.0 to cast doubt on that reading, we conclude that section 5K2.0 does not provide an independent source of authority for substantial assistance departures.
This conclusion is strongly supported by the structure of the Guidelines Manual itself. Chapter 5, Part K of the Manual is entitled “Departures.” Subpart 1 of Part K, which includes section 5K1.1, is entitled “Substantial Assistance to Authorities.” Subpart 2, which begins with section 5K2.0 and follows with the eighteen specific departure-factor sections, is entitled “Other
Defendant briefly asserted a fur* ther, closely-related argument in his initial briefs, although he appeared to abandon it in his response to the petition for rehearing.
We rejected this argument prior to Koon,
y
We conclude that in the absence of a government motion, a district court lacks authority under the Guidelines to depart from the applicable sentencing range on the basis of a defendant’s substantial assistance. This is not to say that a court may never sentence below the Guidelines when a prosecutor refuses to file an authorizing motion. As the Supreme Court stated in Wade, district courts have the authority to grant relief “if they find that the refusal was based on an unconstitutional motive,” or “if the prosecutor’s refusal to move was not rationally related to any legitimate Government end.” Wade,
The defendant has not contended that any of these principles apply to his case.' Nor has the government filed a motion on his behalf. Accordingly, a departure is unavailable and the judgment of the district court is affirmed.
Notes
. Unless otherwise indicated, all references are to the 1997 edition of the Sentencing Guidelines Manual, which is the edition governing defendant's case. See U.S.S.G. § IB 1.11, p.s. Because this case remains under seal, we recite only those facts necessary to frame the legal issues.
. See 21 U.S.C. § 846. The district court initially sentenced defendant to 60 months imprisonment, the statutory minimum sentence for his offense (conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine). See 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(l)(B)(ii); 21 U.S.C. § 846. That sentence was vacated and remanded by a panel of this court on the ground that defendant was eligible for treatment under the "safety valve” provision of the Sentencing Guidelines, U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2, which Congress added in 1994, see 18 U.S.C. § 3553(1). In re Sealed Case (Sentencing Guidelines’ "Safety Valve”),
. We left (and leave) untouched the panel's rejection of defendant's alternative argument that section 5K1.1 is invalid because the Sentencing Commission issued it as a policy statement rather than a formal guideline. See
. See Ortez,
. See United States v. Reina,
. Defendant argues that the language of 28 U.S.C. § 994(n), which requires the Commission to "assure that the guidelines reflect the general appropriateness of imposing a lower sentence” for defendants who provide substantial assistance to the government, compels the conclusion that section 5K1.1 cannot alone constitute adequate consideration of substantial assistance. Def. Supp. Br. at 11. But Congress did not direct the Commission to assure departures whenever a defendant provides substantial assistance. Rather, section 994(n) left it to the Commission to determine the “general appropriateness” of lesser sentences, and it was within the Commission’s authority to conclude that lowering sentences for substantial assistance would only be appropriate upon government motion. As we previously said in rejecting the claim that section 5K1.1 conflicts with section 994(n), "[t]he fact that Congress itself drafted a substantial assistance provision containing a government motion requirement [18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) ] — located, as it so happens, immediately prior to section 994(n) in the original legislation — precludes any doubts as to the •reasonableness of the Commission's inclusion
. See Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, Pub.L. No. 99-570, tit. I, subtit. A, § 1008, 100 Stat. 3207, 3207-7 (1986) (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 994(n)); id. § 1007(a),
. Defendant attaches some significance to the fact that section 3553(e) provides that upon motion a court shall have "authority” to impose a sentence below the statutory minimum, while section 5K1.1 provides that upon motion a court "may” depart from the Guidelines. This truly is a distinction without a difference. Compare Black’s Law Dictionary 132 (6th ed.1990) (defining “authority” as "permission”), with id. at 979 (defining "may” as expressing "permission”).
.The provision 'permitting a reduction for substantial assistance, including the phrase “on motion of the government,” was added to Rule 35 by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, Pub.L. No. 98-473, tit. II, § 215(b), 98 Stat. 1837, 2016 (1984). The 1986 amendment brought the Rule to the form quoted in text. Following amendments made in 1998, Rule 35(b) now reads in pertinent part: "If
. See Doe,
. See also Doe,
. See, e.g., Abuhouran,
. See Abuhouran,
. Indeed, more telling is that Koon s list of forbidden factors omitted the one factor that is directly related to assistance to authorities: refusal to assist authorities. See U.S.S.G. § 5K1.2, p.s. ("A defendant's refusal to assist authorities in the investigation of other persons may not be considered as an aggravating sentencing factor.”). The Court's omission of this factor further supports the conclusion that the analysis in Koon has little applicability to departures for substantial assistance.
. See Schaefer, 120 F.3d at 508 (“[A] departure under § 5K1.1, p.s. is different from the typical basis for departure.... Unlike all other grounds for departure, in order for a district court to base a departure upon a defendant's substantial assistance ... the Government must first move the district court to do SO:”).
. For these reasons, even if the relevant factor here were "substantial assistance without a motion,” we could not regard it as unmen-Lioned, but instead would have to regard it as forbidden.
. Koon s own subsequent treatment of the job-loss factor further supports reliance on such methods. Although the Court concluded that consideration of job loss was not generally prohibited, it held such consideration was barred when the offense at issue was one like 18 U.S.C. § 242 (deprivation of rights under color of law). "It is to be expected that a government official would be subject to” job loss for such an offense, the CourL said, and "so we conclude these consequences were adequately considered by the Commission in formulating” the offense guideline applicable to section 242. Koon,
. U.S.S.G. Ch. 5, Pt. K, Subpt. 2 (emphasis added). The title was the result of a deliberate choice on the part of the Commission. Subpart 2 was originally entitled “General Provisions,” and was changed to "Other Grounds for Departure” as part of "editorial and clarifying” changes made in 1990. See U.S.S.G.App. C., amend. 358.
. This conclusion is also supported by considering-the implications of accepting defendant's argument. On that argument, it would be appropriate for a court to depart as long as substantial assistance were not adequately taken into account in formulating the "relevant guideline applicable to the particular offense” committed by the defendant. Def. Resp. to Pet. for Reh'g at 7. But as the Commission's promulgation of section 5K1.1 suggests, and as defense counsel conceded at oral argument, substantial assistance was. not taken into account in drafting any of the offense guidelines. Hence, the logical consequence of defendant’s theory is that a defendant's substantial assistance would take a case out of the heartland of every offense. This would both render the motion provision of section 5K1.1 essentially irrelevant, and contravene "the Commission’s expectation that departures based on grounds not mentioned in the Guidelines will be 'highly infrequent.’” Koon,
. Compare Def. Br. at 37, with Def. Resp. to Pet. for Reh'g at 7. Defendant may have decided not to press this argument because he never contended that he provided an extraordinary level of assistance to the government.
. See supra notes 5, 12 (citing cases discussing this theory).
. See White,
. See, e.g., U.S.S.G. § 5JC2.0, p.s. ("Where, for example, the applicable offense guideline and adjustments do take into consideration a factor listed in this subpart, departure from the applicable guideline range is warranted only if the factor is present to a degree substantially in excess of that which ordinarily is involved in the offense.”) (emphasis added).
. Of course, a factor denominated as "discouraged” under the Koon taxonomy may be used for departure "if the factor is present to an exceptional degree.” Koon,
. See United States v. Agu,
. Our analysis, although not our result, differs in this regard from that of the Third Circuit. In Abuhouran, that Circuit concluded that a prosecutor’s refusal to file a substantial assistance motion, because of unconstitutional motive or bad faith with respect to a plea agreement, would take the case out of the heartland of § 5K1.1 and give a judge authority to depart under Guidelines § 5K2.0. See
Concurrence Opinion
concurring:
We originally viewed this case as turning on the difference between two distinct departure factors — substantial assistance with a government motion versus sub
We continue to believe, however, that courts must exercise particular caution before concluding that the Commission actually has chosen to limit district judges’ traditional sentencing discretion, and that the expressio unius maxim, by itself, is “too thin a reed” to have much force in this context. Cf. Mobile Communications Corp. of Am. v. FCC,
We do not understand why Judge Henderson feels the need to accuse Senior Judge Buckley and us of “disregarding] our established [Irons footnote] procedure and, far worse, failing] to honor the bedrock principle of stare decisis.” Henderson Op. at 145 — 46. She is wrong on both counts.
To begin with, stare decisis simply has no applicability if a prior precedent has been altered by an intervening decision from a higher court. No case Judge Henderson cites casts doubt on this unassailable proposition. Acting in good faith, the three-judge panel in this case unanimously concluded that Koon v. United States,
Judge Henderson also misrepresents this court’s Irons footnote policy. Although the policy certainly permits a panel to use an Irons footnote to secure full-court endorsement before ruling that an intervening Supreme Court decision has overruled a circuit precedent, the policy does not require it. In fact, in a passage that Judge Henderson fails to cite, the policy clearly states that:
Nothing in the foregoing statement of the court’s policy is intended ... to limit a panel’s discretion to decide a case without resort to en banc endorsement. In other words, a panel may always.... ■determine ... that a prior holding has been superseded, and hence is no longer valid as precedent....
Policy Statement on En Banc Endorsement of Panel Decisions 2-3 (Jan. 17, 1996) (emphasis added); see also Dellums v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Comm’n,
Equally misleading is Judge Henderson’s statement that the panel’s treatment of circuit precedent was “sub silentio.” Henderson Op. at 147. To the contrary, the panel opinion expressly stated that: “Insofar as this [holding] contradicts our holding in Ortez that district courts lack authority to consider substantial assistance absent a government motion, Koon effectively overrules that aspect of Ortez.” In re Sealed Case,
Though in error, the panel opinion did not betray any judicial policy, nor did it indicate that we were somehow faithless to the rule of law.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring:
I do not disagree with any part of the court’s thorough opinion affirming the district court. I write separately only to say that I think this is not nearly so close a case as the very thoroughness of the majority opinion might imply. As the court states, “Our analysis begins with the language of section 5K1.1, ... ‘Upon motion of the government stating that the defendant has provided substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense, the court may depart from the guidelines.’ ” Maj. Op. at 131. As the court’s opinion suggests, the venerable canon of construction expressio unius est exelusio alterius, that is, “the mention of one thing implies exclusion of another,” would support an inference that because the Commission expressly provided for departure upon substantial assistance upon the motion of the government, the Commission intended to exclude the possibility of departure without such a government motion. While I find the majority’s further reasoning convincing, and perhaps helpful, in my view, that inference alone would be sufficient to reach the holding entered by the court today.
While I accept, and indeed fully endorse, the holding of Shook v. D.C. Financial Responsibility & Management Assistance Authority,
In reaching this conclusion, my application of the expressio unius canon is assisted by the equally venerable canon of construction that courts, in construing a statute, or in this case a guideline, “will avoid a reading which renders some words altogether redundant.” Gustafson v. Alloyd Co.,
In short, I reiterate that I do not disagree with the more detailed analysis offered by the court — indeed I find it both persuasive and correct. But I do not think it necessary to our decision.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring;
I wholeheartedly agree with the majority’s holding which disposes of this case with clarity and in full accord with the decisions of courts, including ours, that have ruled on the issue. I write separately to register my concern about the process leading up to the en banc affirmance of the district court — which process, I am convinced, disregarded our established procedure and, far worse, failed to honor the bedrock principle of stare decisis. Let me explain.
The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly characterized stare decisis as “the preferred course because it promotes the evenhanded, predictable, and consistent development of legal principles, fosters reliance on judicial decisions, and contributes to the actual and perceived integrity of the judicial process.” See, e.g., Hohn v. United States,
Even worse, the panel made no mention of five more recent circuit opinions (at least two of which the government expressly relied on, see Panel Brief of Appel-lee at 7, 34), which, again as the majority notes, reached the same conclusion as Or-tez. See Maj. Op. at 131 & n. 4. See United States v. Dyce,
. See, e.g., Irons v. Diamond,
. See, e.g., Londrigan v. FBI,
. See, e.g., United States Dep’t of Navy v. FLRA,
. See, e.g., Harbor Ins. Co. v. Schnabel Found. Co., Inc.,
.I believe our Irons footnote procedure has serious flaws. It has evolved from an expedient device to reconcile inconsistent circuit holdings into a summary method of overruling unambiguous circuit precedent, without any of the safeguards or formalities attending the en banc process. A three-judge panel determines that full-court consideration is warranted and non-panel members concur without benefit of briefing or argument. The resulting decision is then announced by footnote. Reasoned decisionmaking and stare de-cisis call for a more deliberate process. If we wish to change our precedent, we should invoke the en banc mechanism expressly authorized for that purpose by the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. See Fed. R.App. P. 35. As long as the Irons footnote procedure exists, however, the least we should do is follow it. See, e.g., Byrd v. Reno,
. Nor did the panel note the decision of the United States Supreme Court, discussed at length in United States v. White, that stated:
''[The petitioner’s] position is consistent with the view, which we think is clearly correct, that in both [18 U.S.C.] § 3553(e) and § 5K1.1 the condition limiting the court’s authority gives the Government a power, not a duty, to file a motion when a defendant has substantially assisted.” Wade v. United States,504 U.S. 181 , 185,112 S.Ct. 1840 ,118 L.Ed.2d 524 (1992).