UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Young C. PARK, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 13-4142-cr.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
July 9, 2014
Argued June 26, 2014.
758 F.3d 193
As this court has explained, however, “federal courts . . . have inherent power to protect their own judgments from being undermined or vitiated by vexatious litigation in other jurisdictions.” Karaha Bodas Co. v. Perusahaan Pertambangan Minyak Dan Gas Bumi Negara, 500 F.3d 111, 124 (2d Cir.2007) (emphasis omitted). “The standard of review for the grant of a permanent injunction, including an anti-suit injunction, is abuse of discretion.” Id. at 118-19. We see no abuse of discretion here, especially as Bank Markazi expressly consented to this language in the district court. At the hearing on this order, Bank Markazi‘s counsel objected to the anti-suit injunction as overly broad, the district court modified the language in response to this objection, and Bank Markazi‘s counsel then expressly stated, “That‘s fine with us as well, your Honor.” Transcript of Conference at 24, Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran, No. 10 Civ. 4518 (S.D.N.Y. July 9, 2013), ECF No. 466. Because this issue does not involve jurisdictional concerns, Bank Markazi has no basis to now object to this injunction on appeal. See Kraebel v. N.Y. City Dep‘t of Hous. Pres. & Dev., 959 F.2d 395, 401 (2d Cir.1992) (“We have repeatedly held that if an argument has not been raised before the district court, we will not consider it.“).
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
Patricia A. Pileggi, Schiff Hardin LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Young C. Park.
Elissa Hart-Mahan (Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General, Frank P. Cihlar, Chief, Criminal Appeals & Tax Enforcement Policy Section, Gregory V. Davis, Attorney, Tax Division, on the brief), for Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, NY, for Appellant United States.
Before: CABRANES, CARNEY, and DRONEY, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
The United States appeals from the sentence imposed on defendant Young C. Park, pursuant to an October 24, 2013 judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New
We consider on appeal whether the District Court erred in sentencing Park to a below-guidelines probationary sentence rather than a term of imprisonment based solely on its belief that the government could not afford the cost of incarceration during a so-called “government shut-down.” We hold that the District Court failed to conduct a meaningful review of the sentencing factors enumerated in
BACKGROUND
On July 10, 2012, Park waived indictment and pleaded guilty to an information charging him with filing a false corporate tax return, in violation of
Park was sentenced on October 11, 2013, during a so-called “government shut-down.”2 At the sentencing hearing, the District Court initially revealed that it was inclined to impose a sentence of incarceration in light of Park‘s prior convictions and resulting prison sentence. The Court then noted, however, that the “economic problems” caused by the 2013 government shut-down warranted consideration, stating:
I‘m going to say that I would probably give a period of incarceration if not for the financial pressures that the Court has, the court system and the government has. Especially low-level federal employees at the present time. And we really can‘t afford the luxury of paying another $28,000 to keep this person in jail under the circumstances and I encourage you to appeal.3
The Court then expressly reaffirmed that its decision not to impose a sentence of incarceration was based solely on the government shut-down, asserting, “I‘m making the record that I am not going to put him in jail only because of the economic plight that we are facing today.”4
The Court then proceeded to sentence Park to three years’ probation, including six months’ home confinement, the cost of which was to be paid by Park. It did not impose a fine or any restitution beyond that already paid as a condition of the guilty plea. Having secured the required approval of the Solicitor General of the United States,5 the government filed a timely notice of appeal, contending that the Court erred in considering the cost of incarceration as a relevant sentencing factor.
DISCUSSION
We review sentences on appeal only for “reasonableness.”6 This type of scrutiny includes two components: “procedural” review and “substantive” review—although in sentencing, as in many areas of the law, the precise line between procedure and substance is often elusive.7
Whether a sentence satisfies the objectives enumerated in the
A. “Procedural” Unreasonableness
The procedural review focuses on whether the sentencing court followed all the necessary steps in deciding upon a sentence.9 A district court normally begins all sentencing proceedings by calculating the applicable Guidelines range, and will then consider the factors listed in
After a review of the record, we conclude that the District Court committed procedural error in imposing a term of probation in lieu of imprisonment for two reasons. First, the only sentencing factor the District Court deemed relevant was the cost of incarceration to the government and the economic problems allegedly caused by the government shut-down. As the Court clearly announced, “I am not going to put him in jail only because of the
Second, and equally problematic, is that the cost of incarceration to the government—the Court‘s sole justification for imposing a term of probation rather than incarceration—is not a relevant sentencing factor under the applicable statutes. We agree with the Eighth Circuit that, based on the plain language of
Such an understanding is consistent with the broader legislative scheme. The imposition of a fine is governed by
Park argues alternatively that, although the statute may not require sentencing courts to consider the cost of imprisonment, nothing prohibits them from doing so. We are reluctant, however, to expand relevant sentencing considerations beyond those enumerated in
The District Court accordingly committed procedural error in sentencing Park to a probationary sentence by affirmatively refusing to consider the
B. “Substantive” Unreasonableness
Turning to the question of substantive reasonableness,26 an appellate court “will . . . set aside a district court‘s substantive determination only in exceptional cases.”27 Appellate review of whether a sentence is truly exceptional within the scheme of federal sentencing law is no more based on an algorithm or calculus than is the decision of a district judge to impose that particular sentence in the first place. In both instances, the judicial function involves an exercise of judgment channeled by prescribed norms. We have thus stated that “reasonableness” is inherently a concept of flexible meaning, generally lacking precise boundaries,” and that “it involves some degree of subjectivity that often cannot be precisely explained.”28
In light of this leeway, our substantive review of a sentence is akin to review under an “abuse-of-discretion” standard,29 a form of review with which appellate courts are long familiar. We have noted on many occasions that “abuse of discretion” is a distinctive term of art that is not meant as a derogatory state-
A reviewing court should not avoid its duty to apply these general standards of review simply because of its respect for an experienced and capable trial judge, which is why we “have cautioned against converting review for substantive reasonableness into a ‘rubber stamp.‘”36 In thus exercising its judgment, a reviewing court is not disparaging the person of a trial judge, but simply concluding, after careful review, (1) that a sentence lacks a proper basis in the record, (2) that a trial judge‘s assessment of the evidence leaves the reviewing court with a definite and firm conviction that a
With respect to the
As part of our substantive reasonableness inquiry, we also look to the District Court‘s own explanation at the sentencing hearing, insofar as “our . . . ability to uphold a sentence as reasonable will be informed by the district court‘s statement of reasons (or lack thereof) for the sentence that it elects to impose.”38 The District Court‘s remarks in this case indicate that a term of imprisonment was needed to punish and deter Park in light of his criminal past, and that, in the circumstances presented here, it would have been inclined to impose a sentence of incarceration if the government were not shut-down. For example, after noting that it had “a hard time swallowing that” Park “spent . . . eight months in jail and he comes out and he commits another crime years later,” the Court stated that it “would probably give a period of incarceration if not for the financial pressures that the Court has, the court system and the government has.”39
Such statements reveal the District Court‘s view that, if the government were not shut-down, a term of incarceration would have been needed to satisfy the parsimony clause—that is, incarceration would have been “sufficient, but not greater than necessary” to satisfy the purposes of sentencing outlined in
We therefore hold that, in light of the need for deterrence and just punishment
In holding that the District Court‘s probationary sentence was substantively unreasonable, we rely heavily upon the District Court‘s own evaluation of the case, as revealed by its statements at the sentencing hearing.41 Our holding is therefore limited to the record currently before us, which shows the District Court‘s sole reliance on the cost of incarceration in fashioning an appropriate sentence, as well as its belief that, were the government not shut-down, a term of incarceration would be warranted. We thus do not foreclose the possibility that the imposition of a probationary sentence on remand, after appropriate consideration of the
CONCLUSION
To summarize, we hold that:
(1) The District Court committed procedural error in sentencing Park because:
- the Court only considered the cost of incarceration to the government and the economic problems caused by a “government shut-down” rather than conducting a meaningful review of the
§ 3553(a) factors; and - the cost of imprisonment is not a sentencing factor enumerated in
§ 3553(a) , nor is it a separate factor upon which district courts may rely in deciding whether to impose a term of incarceration.
(2) The District Court also committed substantive error in sentencing Park to a probationary sentence:
- A sentence is substantively unreasonable when (1) it lacks a proper basis in the record, (2) we are left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake was made in assessing the evidence, or (3) the sentence imposed was shockingly high, shockingly low, or otherwise unsupportable as a matter of law.
- In light of the District Court‘s own statements at the sentencing hearing regarding the nature and seriousness of the offense and Park‘s prior financial crimes, and in the absence of further explanation of the application of the
§ 3553(a) factors to Park, the imposition of a probationary sentence meets all of these criteria (any one of which would be sufficient for a holding of substantive unreasonableness).
Accordingly, we VACATE the sentence imposed by the District Court and REMAND for plenary resentencing in accordance with
