Buie v. United States

Background

In 2006, the court sentenced David Arthur Buie to 15 years in prison for possessing a firearm as a felon. In September 2017, the court granted his petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a federal procedure for challenging a sentence, and ordered his immediate release. The court had concluded that two of Buie’s three prior New York robbery convictions did not qualify as violent felonies under the Armed Career Criminal Act, so a 10-year statutory maximum applied rather than the 15-year statutory minimum used at sentencing.

In January 2020, the Second Circuit vacated that decision and sent the matter back for further proceedings after holding that New York robbery qualifies as a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act. The Second Circuit’s mandate issued on March 2, 2020. After the vacatur, the Government moved to reinstate Buie’s original 15-year sentence and require him to report to the Bureau of Prisons. Buie asserted additional grounds for relief under § 2255 and moved for compassionate release under the First Step Act.

First Step Act standard

The First Step Act permits a court to reduce a prison sentence when extraordinary and compelling reasons support the reduction, the reduction is consistent with applicable Sentencing Commission policy statements, and the court considers the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). The Second Circuit had held that district courts may consider the full range of extraordinary and compelling reasons presented in compassionate-release motions. Rehabilitation alone cannot support a reduction, but it may be considered with other factors.

The court also concluded that Buie had satisfied the First Step Act’s exhaustion requirement. He had submitted a compassionate-release request to the warden at FCI Petersburg in February 2020, and more than 30 days had passed.

Reasons for the sentence reduction

The court found extraordinary and compelling reasons to reduce Buie’s sentence to time served. First, Buie was 66, obese, and had other health issues that increased his risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19. The court stated that the risk was likely greater in prison and that Buie was likely safer living at home with one other person.

Second, Buie had completed three years of supervised release without violations, found stable housing, and participated in vocational training and counseling. The court found that he appeared rehabilitated after serving more than 12 years in prison, while recognizing that rehabilitation could not be the sole basis for relief.

Third, the court considered the unusual circumstance that Buie had remained at liberty for more than three years after serving a lengthy sentence. It concluded that returning him to prison, particularly during the pandemic, would make little practical sense and would not serve the interests of justice.

Finally, the court determined that the time Buie had already served—more than 12 years in prison and three years of supervised release—was sufficient to satisfy the purposes of sentencing. The court noted that he had served most of his original sentence and concluded that additional incarceration was unnecessary for deterrence, protection of the public, just punishment, respect for the law, recognition of the offense’s seriousness, or general deterrence.

Disposition

The court granted Buie’s motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1) and sentenced him to time served. The court denied Buie’s petition for relief on his other § 2255 grounds as moot.