UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. ELDON MILLER, Defendant - Appellant.
No. 19-2156
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
October 20, 2020
PUBLISH. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (D.C. No. 1:16-CR-01696-MV-1)
Devon M. Fooks, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Defendant - Appellant.
Frederick Mendenhall, Assistant United States Attorney (John C. Anderson, United States Attorney, with him on the brief), Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Plaintiff - Appellee.
Before PHILLIPS, BALDOCK, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges.
In this appeal, Defendant-Appellant Eldon Miller challenges his sentence. Mr. Miller pleaded guilty to one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, in violation of
First, he argues that his sentence is substantively unreasonable. More specifically, Mr. Miller asserts that the district court unreasonably discounted, inter alia, the relationship between his disease of alcoholism and his criminal record, the detrimental effect that a lengthy prison term would have on his rehabilitation, and various mitigating facts related to his background.
Second, Mr. Miller objects to the district court’s imposition of a special condition of supervised release that authorizes his probation officer to determine the number of drug tests to which he must submit during his term of supervised release. Mr. Miller contends the district court’s imposition of this condition constituted error for several reasons. He argues: (1) this delegation of authority violated
Exercising jurisdiction under
I. BACKGROUND
A. Factual History
The facts underlying this appeal are undisputed. On April 23, 2015, Mr. Miller was driving a Chevrolet pickup truck while intoxicated on a highway within the Navajo Reservation. He lost control of the vehicle and it rolled over, causing serious injuries to his sole passenger, Jane Doe. Prior to
As law enforcement officers arrived at the scene, they found Ms. Doe unconscious and outside of the vehicle. She was airlifted to an Albuquerque hospital where doctors diagnosed her with seventeen different injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, a lacerated liver, and fractures of the spine, hip socket, pelvis, ribs, elbow, and shin. Ms. Doe required a feeding tube, splenectomy, bilateral chest tubes, and a ventilator to breathe. She spent three weeks in intensive care and could not walk for weeks following her discharge from the hospital.
Ms. Doe also suffers long-term consequences from the accident. As of the time of sentencing in July 2019, which was several years after the accident occurred, she continued to suffer memory loss that was manifesting in potentially dangerous ways—for example, she would forget that she turned on the stove. She could no longer cook for herself, and her mother was taking care of Ms. Doe and one of Ms. Doe’s teenage daughters. Ms. Doe also lost her job because she was no longer able to perform the duties required of her employment. As a result, Ms. Doe’s mother postponed her retirement in order to provide for Ms. Doe and her daughter. Although before the accident Ms. Doe had been an athlete and had previously served in the Air Force, as of the time of sentencing she found it too painful to bend her knees. She also has difficulty speaking in full sentences and, as of Mr. Miller’s sentencing, could read only at a fifth-grade level. Her physical and mental condition have led to uncontrollable outbursts, causing rifts between her and her family members.
B. Procedural History
1. Pre-Sentencing Proceedings
A grand jury in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico returned a one-count indictment against Mr. Miller, charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury in violation of
The United States Probation Office prepared a presentence investigation rеport. Mr. Miller’s calculated offense level of 18, together with his criminal history category of III, yielded a Guidelines range of 33 to 41 months’ imprisonment.
2. Sentencing Proceedings
The district court held sentencing proceedings on July 25, 2019, where it heard from the parties and spoke at length about the basis for its sentence. The district court began its remarks by stating that the “focus” in its sentencing “ha[s] to be on what services we can provide to assure the safety of the community,” explaining that it placed “[m]uch emphasis” on this. ROA Vol. II, at 43–44. It acknowledged that Mr. Miller is “still suffering from” and “in the grips of [his] addiction,” id. at 46, and it explained that the court system would work with Mr. Miller during his supervision to provide him with resources to help him attain his “dreams,” id. at 46–47. The district court explained, “we are
In considering Mr. Miller’s history and characteristics, the district court noted that he had attained an associate’s degree in electrical engineering, had learned how to be a welder from his father, and had been “very successful with this trade” for many years, including in the years after the instant offense. Id. at 53. It also noted that he had acquired a second job as an umpire shortly before sentencing. The court further considered that Mr. Miller has two children with whom he maintains contact and for whom he pays child support.
The court acknowledged that Mr. Miller was sober for ten years before the instant offense. It also noted that in 2018, Mr. Miller had participated in outpatient addiction treatment, including group and individual counseling, before being successfully discharged from the program. The court further considered that from the offense in 2015, until February of 2019, Mr. Miller had been compliant with the conditions of his release; however, on February 9, 2019, he consumed whiskey. Mr. Miller underwent a new substance abuse evaluation on March 11, 2019, in which he was diagnosed with severe alcohol abuse disorder. The district court noted that Mr. Miller had not returned any positive drug or alcohol tests since that relapse.
The district court stated that it considered Mr. Miller’s background “extremely serious,” finding that it “reflected a lack of seriousness towards his alcohol abuse and his responsibilities towards the community in addressing it.” Id. at 44. In particular, the district court noted that the instant offense was Mr. Miller’s eighth conviction involving driving while intoxicated (“DWI”), and his seven previous DWIs had apparently not prevented him from continuing to abuse alcohol and drive. When he was previously sentenced to cоmplete a DWI first-offender program, he failed to complete it. The instant offense was also his third offense involving a BAC level above 0.25. Mr. Miller’s last arrest was “for similar reckless conduct of having a [BAC level] of over .25,” and the three-year sentence imposed on Mr. Miller for that offense “did not have a lasting impact on Mr. Miller’s decision in the instant case to get in a vehicle after drinking a half-a-pint of vodka before noon.” Id. at 58. Nor did his current offense—despite its grave consequences—prevent him from buying and consuming alcohol once again afterwards.
The district court “acknowledge[d] and appreciate[d] Mr. Miller’s remorse,” but stated that “his words are simply not enough,” finding it “unacceptable that it took a significant event to instill the sense of remorse in [him],” despite his “extensive record for similarly reckless behaviors spanning two decades.” Id. at 57. Moreover, regarding Mr. Miller’s relapse, the district court stated that the explanation he provided for it “is of concern,” as the explanation was that stress caused by his two jobs and by the upcoming court appearance prompted the relapse. Id. at 57.
The district court also emphasized the serious nature of Mr. Miller’s offense—driving while highly intoxicated and сausing serious, permanent injury to Ms. Doe—and the need to provide just punishment for his offense, promote respect for the law, and promote public safety. Regarding the consequences of Mr. Miller’s crime, the district court detailed the “horrific” injuries suffered by Ms. Doe—including traumatic brain injury and a lacerated liver—and its lasting impacts on her and her family. Id. at 44; 50–51; see also 55–57.
3. Mr. Miller’s Sentence
After detailing the bases for its sentence and stating that it had considered both the Guidelines and the § 3553(a) factors, the district court sentenced Mr. Miller to a within-Guidelines term of 36 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. It also imposed a series of conditions of supervised release.
As relevant here, under
The district court also imposed several special conditions of supervised release. One condition is that Mr. Miller is prohibited from using or possessing alcohol. A second condition orders Mr. Miller to “participate in an outpatient substance abuse treatment program and follow the rules and regulations of that program” under the supervision of the probation officer. ROA Vol. I, at 63. Under the Sentencing Guidelines, such a treatment program “may include testing.”
A third special condition of supervised release provides as follows:
You must submit to substance abuse testing to determine if you have used a prohibited substance. Testing may include urine testing, the wearing of a sweat patch, a remote alcohol testing system, an alcohol monitoring technology program, and/or any form of prohibited substance screening or testing. You must not attempt to obstruct or tamper with the testing methods. You may be required to pay all, or a portion, of the costs of the testing.
ROA Vol. I, at 63.
Mr. Miller did not object to this condition, or to any other condition of his supervised release, before the district court. Mr. Miller challenges this third special condition—and, more specifically, its requirement that he be subjected to drug testing at the discretion of his probation officer—on appeal.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Substantive Reasonableness of the Sentence
We review the reasonableness of a sentence for abuse of discretion. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007); United States v. Chavez, 723 F.3d 1226, 1233 (10th Cir. 2013). “[S]ubstantive reasonableness addresses whether the length of the sentence is reasonable given all the circumstances of the case in light of the factors set forth in
-
the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant; - the need for the sentence imposed
- to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense;
- to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct;
- to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant; and
- to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner;
- the kinds of sentences available;
- the kinds of sentence and the sеntencing range established for . . . the applicable category of offense committed by the applicable category of defendant . . . ;
- any pertinent policy statement . . . ;
- the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct; and
- the need to provide restitution to any victims of the offense.
In conducting our substantive reasonableness review, we “will reverse only if the sentence imposed was arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, or manifestly unreasonable.” United States v. Barnes, 890 F.3d 910, 915 (10th Cir. 2018) (quotation marks omitted). We “will, of course, take into account the totality of the circumstances, including the extent of any variance from the Guidelines range.” Gall, 552 U.S. at 51. However, we do not reweigh the sentencing factors; rather, we ask whether the sentence fell within the range of “rationally available choices that the facts and law at issue can fairly support.” United States v. Martinez, 610 F.3d 1216, 1227 (10th Cir. 2010) (internal quotation marks omitted). Such deference is accorded because “[t]he sentencing judge is in a superior position to find facts and judge their import under
The district court sentenced Mr. Miller to a term of 36 months’ imprisonment. This sentence was within the Guidelines range of 33 to 41 months’ imprisonment. Therefore, it is Mr. Miller’s burden to rebut the presumption that this sentence was reasonable.
Mr. Miller challenges the substantive reasonableness of his sentence on the ground that it was more severe than necessary to comply with the purposes of
First, in arguing that the district court “unreasonably discounted” certain facts related to his alcoholism and that it “failed to adequately take into account” other
facts relevant to his sentence, Mr. Miller essentially argues that the district court wrongly weighed the sentencing factors and asks this court to reweigh them. Although we consider the “totality of the circumstances” in conducting a substantive reasonableness review, Gall, 552 U.S. at 51, “[w]e may not examine the weight a district court assigns to various
We also reject Mr. Miller’s argument that the district gave short shrift to his alcoholism when fashioning his sentence because it is unsupported by the record. Far from discounting Mr. Miller’s disease, or his progress in his efforts to overcome it, the transcript of the sentencing proceeding shows that the district court paid careful attention to these facts when crafting his sentence. See, e.g., ROA Vol. II, at 46 (acknowledging that Mr. Miller is “still suffering from” and “in the grips of [his] addiction”); id. at 54 (noting that in 2018, Mr. Miller had participated in outpatient treatment, including group and individual counseling, and was successfully discharged from the program); id. at 57 (acknowledging that Mr. Miller was sober for ten years before the instant offense); id. at 55 (noting that Mr. Miller was diagnosed with a severe alcohol abuse disorder). After considering these facts, it was well within the district court’s discretion to determine that “[t]he sentencing goals of protection of the public and deterrence of future criminal conduct,” Aplt. Br. at 7–8, were best realized by the sentence it imposed, rather than by a shorter sentence that Mr. Miller claims would be more effеctive in treating his addiction. Furthermore, the district court was required to not just consider Mr. Miller’s treatment when determining his sentence but also to ensure that the sentence it imposed reflects the seriousness of his offense and provides just punishment for it. See
For all of the above reasons, we cannot conclude the district court’s sentence was “arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, or manifestly unreasonable.” Barnes, 890 F.3d at 915 (quotation marks omitted). Indeed, the record in this case demonstrates that the district court’s sentence was not only not arbitrary or capricious, it was meticulously and thoroughly reasoned. Mr. Miller’s within-Guidelines term of imprisonment is affirmed.
B. Special Condition of Supervised Release Regarding Drug Testing
Mr. Miller challenges the following special condition of supervised release imposed by the district court:
You must submit to substance abuse testing to determine if you have used a prohibited substance. Testing may include urine testing, the wearing of a sweat patch, a remote alcohol testing system, an alcohol monitoring technology program, and/or any form of prohibited substance screening or testing. You must not attempt to obstruct or tamper with the testing methods. You may be required to pay all, or a portion, of the costs of the testing.
ROA Vol. I, at 63 (emphasis added). Mr. Miller points out, and the government does not contest, that this condition—by using the broad term “substance abuse testing”—permits drug testing (in addition to alcohol testing), and it authorizes Mr. Miller’s probation officer to determine the maximum number of drug tests to which he must submit during his term of supervised release.2 Mr. Miller challenges these aspects of the condition on appeal.
error was plain, (3) the error affected substantial rights, and (4) the error seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” United States v. Munoz, 812 F.3d 809, 813 (10th Cir. 2016).
1. General Legal Standards
The Sentencing Guidelines elaborate mandatory, discretionary, “standard,” and “special” conditions of supervised release.
The court may order, as a further condition of supervised release, to the extent that such condition—
- is reasonably related to the factors set forth in section 3553(a)(1), (a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), and (a)(2)(D);
- involves no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably necessary for the purposes set forth in section 3553(a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), and (a)(2)(D); and
- is consistent with any pertinent policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to
28 U.S.C. 994(a) ;any condition . . . it considers to be appropriate.
The cross-referenced
- the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant;
- the need for the sentence imposed . . .
- to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct;
- to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant; and
-
- to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner[.]
2. Plain Error Analysis
a. Prong one: Whether the district court erred
To reiterate, Mr. Miller claims the district court’s imposition of the challenged drug-testing condition was error for three reasons. First, he argues that the delegation of authority to probation contravenes
i. Statutory delegation error
Mr. Miller’s statutory theory of error is that the special condition violates
The court shall . . . order, as an explicit condition of supervised release, that the defendant refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance and submit to a drug test within 15 days of release on supervised release and at least 2 periodic drug tests thereafter (as determined by the court) for use of a controlled substance. The condition stated in the preceding sentence may be ameliorated or suspended by the court as provided in section 3563(a)(4).
A number of Courts of Appeals have agreed, interpreting the language “as determined by the court” in the statute (and corresponding guideline) to mean that a sentencing court may not allоw the probation department to determine the maximum number of drug tests to which a defendant must submit during a term of supervised release. The Seventh Circuit considered this issue in United States v. Bonanno, 146 F.3d 502, 511 (7th Cir. 1998), holding that “
[B]oth the statute and the Guidelines state that following the initial “drug test within 15 days of release,” there must be “at least 2 periodic drug tests
thereafter (as determined by the court) for use of a controlled substance.”
18 U.S.C. § 3583(d) (2000);U.S.S.G. § 5D1.3(a)(4) . If there is any ambiguity in this text, it does not relate to the responsibility of the court to make the determination referenced in the statute. That responsibility could not be more explicit.
353 F.3d at 103. See also United States v. Tulloch, 380 F.3d 8, 10 (1st Cir. 2004) (reversing and remanding for resentencing where supervised release condition allowed probation officer to set the maximum number of drug tests to which defendant was required to submit).
Most recently, the Ninth Circuit joined the Seventh and First Circuits in holding that a special condition of supervised release that ordered the defendant to submit to “at least two periodic drug tests . . . as directed by the probation officer,” constituted an impermissible delegation of judicial authority, in contravention of
We agree with the First Circuit’s holdings in Melendez–Santana and Tulloch, that the statute, together with the guideline, clearly requires that the court, not the probation officer, sеt the maximum
number of non-treatment-program drug tests to which a defendant may be subjected. Congress set the conditional minimum while assigning to the courts the responsibility of stating the maximum number of tests to be performed or to set a range for the permissible number of tests. The district court’s sentencing order . . . failed to abide by [the statute’s] final requirement that the court itself determine the maximum number of drug tests. It ordered that Stephens submit to the fifteen day drug test as well as “at least two periodic drug tests thereafter, as directed by the probation officer.” Under the statute, it was for the district court to determine the maximum number, not for the probation officer to direct. Having determined that number, the court could have left it to the probation officer to direct the scheduling and other details of the test. But probation officers may not be vested with unlimited discretion to order drug tests given the very real consequences that may follow therefrom. Where, as here, a probation officer can of his own
accord order a test, he is subjecting the defendant to the possibility of further criminal punishment. While allowing the probation officer to determine the timing of tests is a permissible administrative task, it is for the court to determine how many times a defendant mаy be placed in jeopardy of being tested.
We agree with Mr. Miller and with our sibling circuits. “In construing a federal statute, we give effect to the will of Congress, and where its will has been expressed in reasonably plain terms, that language must ordinarily be regarded as conclusive.” Ben Ezra, Weinstein, & Co., Inc. v. Am. Online Inc., 206 F.3d 980, 984 (10th Cir. 2000) (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, the language provided in the statute, together with the corresponding guideline, is clear: the district court must set the maximum number of non-treatment-program drug tests to which a defendant may be subjected. The district court therefore erred in delegating this authority to Mr. Miller’s probation officer.
The government responds to Mr. Miller’s statutory error argument by asserting that the statutory language “as determined by the court” in
The government’s arguments are unavailing. The government’s proposed
The government’s policy arguments also fail. Even if this court agreed with the government’s policy arguments—i.e., that it would make more “common sense” to permit probation officers to make such drug-testing determinations—that would not give us license to interpret a statute contrary to its plain language. Moreover, if a district court wishes to delegate some authority to probation on this matter, then it may do so, consistently with the statute’s language, by specifying a range of drug tests to be performed by probation, or by specifying a maximum number of drug tests that probation may not exceed. See Melendez-Santana, 353 F.3d at 103 (interpreting
For these reasons, we join our sibling circuits in holding that under the terms of
ii. Constitutional delegation error
Mr. Miller also claims the district court’s delegation to probation was unconstitutional. Specifically, he argues that because the authority to impose punishment resides in the judiciary, the district court violated Article III when it delegated to probation the authority to determine the upper limit of his drug testing.
In an improper-delegation challenge to a supervised-release condition, we distinguish between permissible delegations that merely task the probation officer with performing ministerial or support services relаted to the punishment imposed and impermissible delegations that allow the officer to decide the nature or extent of the defendant’s punishment. This inquiry turns on the liberty interest affected by the probation officer’s discretion. Thus, allowing a probation officer to make the decision to restrict a defendant’s significant liberty interest constitutes an improper delegation of the judicial authority to determine the nature and extent of a defendant’s punishment.
Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
The question here is therefore whether determining the number of drug tests to which Mr. Miller must submit constitutes “ministerial or support services related to the punishment imposed” or instead constitutes a decision as to the “nature or extent” of his punishment, thereby impacting a significant liberty interest. Id. (quotation marks omitted). For the reasons explained herein, we hold that the district court’s delegation did not amount to constitutional error. In so holding, we are guided by our precedent which, although not including caselaw directly on point, makes clear that the special drug-testing condition imposed in this case does not rise to the level of implicating a significant liberty interest. We are also swayed by the decision of the First Circuit when presented with a virtually identical issue.
In United States v. Begay, we held that polygraph testing did not involve a significant restriction on the defendant’s liberty interests where, regardless of whether the restriction was in place, he would be required to undergo sex offender treatment and meet with his probation officer. 631 F.3d 1168, 1175-76 (10th Cir. 2011). We noted that although the burden imposed by the polygraph testing “may be invasive and anxiety-provoking,” it did not rise to the level of “infring[ing] upon fundamental liberty interests, such as familial association.” Id. at 1175. Similarly, in United States v. Bear, we held that a delegation did not implicate the defendant’s significant liberty interests, and therefore was not unconstitutional, where probation could not require the defendant to submit to “residential treatment, penile plethysmograph testing, or the involuntary administration of psychotropic drugs.” 769 F.3d 1221, 1230-31 (10th Cir. 2014); United States v. Mike, 632 F.3d 686, 696 (10th Cir. 2011) (holding that “any condition that affects a significant liberty interest, such as one requiring the defendant to participate in residential treatment, or undergo penile plethysmographic testing,” may not be delegated to probation (citations omitted)). Cf. Cabral, 926 F.3d at 698-99 (holding a delegation of decision-making authority to probation
Here, the decision delegated to Mr. Miller’s probation officer—i.e., to determine the number of drug tests to which he must submit—does not restrict a significant liberty interest. No occupational right or right to familial association is burdened, for example, nor does probation have authority to determine whether Mr. Miller submits to residential treatment, penile plethysmograph testing, or the involuntary administration of psychotropic drugs. Further, even without the drug-testing special condition, Mr. Miller would be required (under those conditions of his supervised release to which he does not object) to refrain from alcohol and drug use and to submit to alcohol testing. See ROA Vol. I, at 61 (listing as mandatory conditions of supervised release that Mr. Miller “must not commit another federal, state, or local crime” and “must refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance”); id. at 63 (imposing as a special condition of supervised release that Mr. Miller “must not use or possess alcohol”); Aplt. Br. at 14 (stating that Mr. Miller “challenges the special condition authorizing substance abuse testing with respect to drug testing that may be required by the probation officer, but does not challenge it insofar as it requires him to submit to аlcohol testing” (emphasis added)).
Although Mr. Miller correctly notes that his failure to comply with the drug-testing condition would lead to an additional term of imprisonment, see
The decision of the First Circuit in Padilla, when confronted with the same challenge, is also instructive. There, the court noted that the requirement in
[t]he placement of authority to set the maximum number of drug tests in the hands of the judge is a statutory choice; it is neither a matter of constitutional necessity nor a condition essential to the fair аdministration of justice. Thus, Article III is implicated only by way of the statutorily prohibited delegation[.]
Id. (footnote omitted).6 Mr. Miller cites no authority supporting his contrary position.
iii. Failure to make supporting findings
Mr. Miller argues that the district court further erred by failing to make findings supporting its imposition of the special condition. We agree.
“When [] neither the Sentencing Commission nor Congress has required or recommended a condition, we expect the sentencing court to provide a reasoned basis for applying the condition to the specific defendant before the court.” Martinez-Torres, 795 F.3d at 1237; see also United States v. Burns, 775 F.3d 1221, 1223 (10th Cir. 2014) (“Our precedents unambiguously require supporting findings when courts impose special conditions of supervised release.”); United States v. Hahn, 551 F.3d 977, 982 (10th Cir. 2008) (explaining that the sentencing court “is required to give reasons on the record for the imposition of special conditions of supervised release” so that a reviewing court may consider the substantive reasonableness of the conditions). The district court must make an “individualized assessment” before imposing special conditions. Martinez-Torres, 795 F.3d at 1237-38. However, the “sentencing court need not provide reasons for each special condition that it imposes; rather, it must only provide a generalized statement of its reasoning.” Mike, 632 F.3d at 693 (internal quotation marks omitted).
Here, the district court did not explain why it imposed a special condition authorizing Mr. Miller’s probation officer to require him to submit to non-treatment-program-based drug testing. The government concedes that the district court neither provided particular reasons for imposing this condition, nor made a generalized statement of its reasoning. Because the district court did not make the requisite findings—a point which the government does not dispute—the district court erred.
b. Prong two: Whether the errors were plain
Mr. Miller next asserts that the district court’s errors were plain. For an error to be plain, it must be an error that “is clear or obvious under current, well-settled law.” United States v. DeChristopher, 695 F.3d 1082, 1091 (10th Cir. 2012) (quotation marks omitted). Typically for an error “to be contrary to well-settled law, either the Supreme Court or this court must have addressed the issue.” Id. (quotation marks omitted). Although the failure to cite Supreme Court or Tenth Circuit authority that has clearly endorsed the appellant’s view is “an omission that ordinarily . . . would fatally undercut [his] attempt to show plain errоr,” United States v. Finnesy, 953 F.3d 675, 702 n.14 (10th Cir. 2020), we have held that “the absence of circuit precedent [does not] prevent[] the clearly erroneous application of statutory law from being plain error,” United States v. Brown, 316 F.3d 1151, 1158 (10th Cir. 2003) (alterations in original) (quoting United States v. Evans, 155 F.3d 245, 252 (3d Cir.1998)).
As noted above, the purported constitutional delegation error was not in fact error. We therefore need not analyze the remaining elements of the plain-error standard with regard to that argument. See United States v. Gantt, 679 F.3d 1240, 1246 (10th Cir. 2012) (“Because all four [plain error] requirements must be met, the failure of any one will foreclose relief and the others need not be addressed.”). As explained below, we conclude that the statutory delegation and failure-to-make-findings errors were plain.
i. Statutory delegation error
Mr. Miller argues that the district court’s delegation of authority to his probation officer was plainly erroneous because it violates clear statutory language. We agree.
First, and most significantly, the language of
The government counters that the error was not plain because Mr. Miller “identifies no cases from this circuit or from the Supreme Court addressing this condition and these issues.” Aple. Br. at 20. But as indicated above, “the absence of circuit precedent [does not] prevent[] the clearly erroneous application of statutory law from being plain error.” Brown, 316 F.3d at 1158 (alterations in original) (quoting Evans, 155 F.3d at 252). Here, the statute expressly vests the power to determine the maximum number of drug tests in the district court and only the district court.
The government further asserts that the “one Tenth Circuit case [it] could find where a defendant challenged a similar condition on delegation grounds” was United States v. Lopez-Casillas, and there, this court “rejected that attack.” Aple. Br. at 20 (citing United States v. Lopez-Casillas, 750 F. App’x 766, 767 (10th Cir. 2019) (unpublished)). But the defendant there did not challenge his supervised-release condition on the ground that it violated
For the above reasons, we hold that the district court’s statutory delegation error was plain.
ii. Failure to make supporting findings
The government does not appear to argue that the district court’s error in failing to make findings on the record supporting
c. Prong three: Whether the errors affected Mr. Miller’s substantial rights
Turning to the third prong of the plain-error test, we must determine whether the errors affected Mr. Miller’s substantial rights. “An error affects substantial rights if there is a reasonable probability that the error affected the outcome of the proceedings.” Burns, 775 F.3d at 1224. “In the sentencing context, we ask: Is there a reasonable probability that but for the court’s error, [the defendant] would have received a lesser sentence?” Id.9
Here, Mr. Miller must show that, on remand, there is a reasonable probability the district court would not impose the special condition pertaining to drug testing, or that it would impose it in a less restrictive way. See United States v. Rosales-Miranda, 755 F.3d 1253, 1258 (10th Cir. 2014). The right affected by the district court’s delegation error is Mr. Miller’s right to have the district court, rather than the probation officer, determine the maximum number of drug tests to which Mr. Miller may be subjected during his term of supervised release. Mr. Miller argues the district court’s failure to make the requisite supporting findings for the special drug-testing condition suggests the district court may not have imposed the condition at all. For the reasons explained below, we conclude that neither error affected Mr. Miller’s substantial rights.
i. Delegation to probation to determine maximum number of drug tests
To determine whether the district court’s delegation error satisfies the third prong of the plain-error test, the relevant question is whether there is a reasonable probability that granting this discretion to probation rendered Mr. Miller worse off.
First, as the government notes, multiple circuits have held that defendants’ challenges to similar testing conditions have failed plain-error review under the substantial rights prong. For example, the First Circuit, sitting en banc, explained:
The case at hand is peculiar in that we are dealing with two unknown variables: the limit the district court would have set on drug tests and the number of tests that the probation officer will demand. It is, therefore, nearly impossible for Padilla to show a reasonable probability that he is worse off because the probation officer, rаther than the district court, has the power to determine the maximum number of drug tests. Under these circumstances, we do not see how Padilla can demonstrate that, but for the delegation error, the supervised release condition likely would have been more favorable to him. This, in turn, undercuts his argument that the error should be corrected. See Jones v. United States, 527 U.S. 373, 394-95 (1999) (“Where the effect of an alleged error is so uncertain, a defendant cannot meet his burden of showing that the error actually affected his substantial rights.”).
Padilla, 415 F.3d at 221. The First Circuit’s reasoning is equally applicable here. “It is . . . nearly impossible” for Mr. Miller “to show a reasonable probability that he is worse off because the probation officer, rather than the district court, has the power to determine the maximum number of drug tests.” Id. Accordingly, Mr. Miller cannot show that “but for the delegation error, the supervised release condition likely would have been more favorable to him.” Id.
Similarly, in United States v. Tejeda, the district court entered as a special condition of supervised release that the co-defendants “participate in a program of testing . . . for drug and alcohol abuse, as approved by [their] supervising probation officer[s],” and the district court did not specify the maximum number of drug tests that the probation officers could demand. 476 F.3d 471, 472-73 (7th Cir. 2007). The Seventh Circuit found that the district court’s statutory delegation error was clearly established (satisfying the second element of the plain-error standard), but that the defendants could not satisfy the third prong of plain-error review. The Tejeda court reasoned that, “[a]s the court said in Padilla, it cannot be shown that the defendant would have been better off had the judge imposed the details of the drug testing himself.” Id. at 475.
In response to the government’s arguments, Mr. Miller asserts that “[i]t is reasonably probable that on remand, the district court would decide that any need for [Mr. Miller] to be drug tested is adequately met by the mandatory drug testing condition and the substance abuse treatment condition.” Aplt. Reply at 10. To the extent Mr. Miller argues the district court’s imposition of the drug testing condition may have been unintentional and may not be reimposed on remand, we address this contention in the next section dealing with the failure to make findings. As to the district court’s delegation error, Mr. Miller does not address the government’s argument—or the persuasive authority it marshals in support thereof—that he cannot show that he is “worse off because the probation officer, rather than the district court, has the power to determine the maximum
For these reasons, Mr. Miller cannot show that the district court’s delegatiоn of authority to probation to determine his maximum number of drug tests affected his substantial rights. Mr. Miller therefore fails to satisfy the third prong of the plain-error test with respect to the statutory delegation error, and our inquiry need proceed no further. See Gantt, 679 F.3d at 1246.
ii. Failure to make supporting findings
We have held that although a district court need not provide reasons for each special condition it imposes, it must at least provide a statement of generalized reasons for why it imposed the condition. Martinez-Torres, 795 F.3d at 1237-38; Mike, 632 F.3d at 693. Should the district court fail to make such a generalized statement, however, a special condition nonetheless survives under the third prong of plain-error review if “the record reveals a basis” for the condition. United States v. Francis, 891 F.3d 888, 898-99 (10th Cir. 2018).
According to the government, the record reveals a basis for the special drug-testing condition because Mr. Miller’s history of alcohol abuse justifies requiring drug tests. In support of this argument, the government cites to our recent decision in United States v. Richards, 958 F.3d 961 (10th Cir. 2020), as well as decisions of the First, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, which acknowledge the connection between different forms of addiction or “vice.” See Aple. Br. at 15-16 (citing United States v. Brown, 235 F.3d 2, 6 (1st Cir. 2000); United States v. Paul, 542 F.3d 596, 600 (7th Cir. 2008); United States v. Sales, 476 F.3d 732, 735-36 (9th Cir. 2007)). In Richards, the defendant was convicted of a child pornography offense, and the district court imposed special conditions of supervised release relating to substance abuse testing and treatment. 958 F.3d at 963-64. Mr. Richards objected on the ground that his past substance abuse was too remote to support these conditions. Id. at 965. On appeal, we held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing the challenged conditions, reasoning that “[b]ased on [Mr. Richards’s] history and background, the district court could have reasonably concluded conditions preventing further use of drugs and alcohol will help ensure [Mr. Richards] does not trade one vice for another and that he will remain on the path to rehabilitation during his supervised release.” Id. at 966.
Mr. Miller admits the district court could have imposed the special drug-testing condition, if it had supported its decision to do so with specific findings. But he argues that the district court’s failure to make such findings suggests it did not intend to impose the special drug-testing condition in the first place. See, e.g., Aplt. Reply Br. at 10 (“The district court’s improper and perhaps unintentional imposition of a third drug testing condition that has the potential to subject [him] to mandatory revocation of his supervised release and a new term of imprisonment clearly affects his substantial rights.” (emphasis added)). Therefore, he argues that “[i]t is reasonably probable that on remand, the district court would decide that any need for [Mr.] Miller to be drug tested is adequately met by the mandatory drug testing cоndition and the substance abuse treatment condition.” Aplt. Reply Br. at 10.
In support of this argument, Mr. Miller cites our decision in Burns, in which we held that the defendant had satisfied the third prong of plain-error review where the district court had failed to make supporting findings before imposing a special
Given the interest at stake—namely, an intrusion upon Mr. Burns’s constitutional right to familial association—we concluded the district court’s failure to make supporting findings was indicative of its probable inadvertence in imposing the condition. See id. at 1222 (noting that the “restriction intrudes on Mr. Burns’s constitutional right to familial association”); id. at 1225 (“[T]he district court likely would have softened the contact restrictions if the issue had been raised.”). In support of our holding, we cited a Tenth Circuit decision authored by the judge who imposed Mr. Burns’s sentence in which we stated that a restriction on contact with a defendant’s young relatives was unconstitutionаl notwithstanding the allowance of contact upon permission of a probation officer. See id. at 1225 & n.4 (citing United States v. Lonjose, 633 F.3d 1292, 1303 (10th Cir. 2011)).
It is true that certain similarities exist between the circumstances in Burns and the instant case. As there, here “neither the pretrial services officer nor government counsel spoke of a need” to impose the challenged condition. See id. But the condition at issue in Burns was a significantly greater intrusion on the defendant’s rights than the one imposed on Mr. Miller. Contrasted with restrictions on visiting one’s young child, the intrusion on Mr. Miller’s rights caused by drug testing is slight. As we have already explained, the special condition here did not implicate Mr. Miller’s constitutional rights. Moreover, unlike in Burns, we do not have caselaw from Mr. Miller’s sentencing judge strongly suggesting that, had the issue been raised, the judge likely would not have imposed the challenged condition. And finally, whereas in Burns there was an “absence of any evidence or argument on a need to protect” Mr. Burns’s daughter from him, here there are compelling reasons to impose a drug-testing condition on a defendant who suffers from alcohol addiction. See, e.g., Richards, 958 F.3d at 964-66 (upholding special conditions relating to drugs and alcohol, reasoning that “[b]ased on Defendant’s history and background, the district court could have reasonably concluded conditions preventing further use of drugs and alcohol will help ensure Defendant does not trade one vice for another and that he will remain on the path to rehabilitation during his supervised release”); Brown, 235 F.3d at 6 (noting the relationship between the special condition imposed [abstention from alcohol] and Mr. Brown’s offense of conviction [cocaine distribution], stating “it is hardly a secret that there is a tie between drug abuse and alcohol abuse”); Paul, 542 F.3d at 596-601 (affirming imposition of drug testing supervised-release condition for defendant with history of alcohol abuse and gambling, reasoning that that “[b]oth of those [latter] factors are consistent with an addictive personality which might well lead him to the use of illegal drugs,” and “[a] regime of drug screening [would] help to ensure that [Mr. Paul] does not trade one vice for another and that he remains on the path to rehabilitation”). And the condition discourages Mr. Miller from trying new substances, thereby reducing the risk that, in an altered state in which his judgment is impaired, he will revert to alcohol use.
For these reasons, although the district court’s failure to make supporting findings in Burns was indicative of its probable inadvertence in imposing the challenged
d. Prong four: Fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings
Because the arguments Mr. Miller raises on appeal fail under the first (in the case of the constitutional-error argument) or third (in the case of the statutory delegation error and the failure to make specific findings) prongs of plain-error review, we do not analyze the final element. See Gantt, 679 F.3d at 1246 (“Because all four [plain error] requirements must be met, the failure of any one will foreclose relief and the others need not be addressed.”).
III. CONCLUSION
For these reasons, we AFFIRM the 36-month, within Guidelines sentence as substantively reasonable, and we AFFIRM the drug-testing special condition of supervised release as not plainly erroneоus.
Notes
But the government did not argue in its briefing that the condition is ambiguous, nor did it propose an alternative interpretation. Indeed, it was only in response to this court’s questioning at oral argument that the government acknowledged that an alternative interpretation was possible. Oral Arg. at 21:18–21:42. Moreover, as explained infra, the condition, as interpreted by Mr. Miller, does not restrict a significant liberty interest. We accordingly construe the condition in the manner agreed upon by the parties in their briefing—i.e., as delegating authority to Mr. Miller’s probation officer to determine the maximum number of drug tests to which he must submit.
The defendant shall refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance and submit to one drug test within 15 days of release on supervised release and at least two periodic drug tests thereafter (as determined by the court) for use of a controlled substance, but the condition stated in this paragraph may be ameliorated or suspended by the court for any individual defendant if the defendant’s presentence report or other reliable information indicates a low risk of future substance abuse by the defendant (see 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d)).