AMENDMENT 567
The Commentary to §4B1.1 captioned "Application Notes" is amended in Note 2 by deleting "not" after "offense," in the first sentence; by deleting "(b)(1)(B), (b)(1)(C), and (b)(1)(D)" and inserting in lieu thereof "(B), (C), and (D)"; by deleting "where" and inserting in lieu thereof "in a case in which"; by inserting "for that defendant" after "Maximum’"; by deleting "twenty years and not thirty years" and inserting in lieu thereof "thirty years and not twenty years"; by deleting "authorizes" and inserting in lieu thereof "has"; and by deleting "maximum term of imprisonment" and inserting in lieu thereof "offense statutory maximum".
The Commentary to §4B1.1 captioned "Background" is amended by deleting:
"The legislative history of this provision suggests that the phrase ‘maximum term authorized’ should be construed as the maximum term authorized by statute. See S. Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. 175 (1983); 128 Cong. Rec. 26,511-12 (1982) (text of ‘Career Criminals’ amendment by Senator Kennedy); id. at 26,515 (brief summary of amendment); id. at 26,517-18 (statement of Senator Kennedy).".
Reason for Amendment: This amendment responds to United States v. LaBonte, 520 U.S. 751. In LaBonte, the Supreme Court held that the way in which the Commission defined "maximum term authorized", for purposes of fulfilling the requirement under 28 U.S.C. § 994(h) to specify sentences for certain categories of career offenders at or near the maximum term authorized for those offenders, is inconsistent with § 994(h)’s plain and unambiguous language and is therefore invalid. The Commission defined "maximum term authorized" to mean the maximum term authorized for the offense of conviction not including any sentencing enhancement provisions that apply because of the defendant’s prior criminal record. The Supreme Court held that under § 994’s plain and unambiguous language, "maximum term authorized" must be read to include all applicable statutory sentencing enhancements. The proposed amendment makes a straightforward change to the commentary to §4B1.1, the career offender guideline, to reflect the LaBonte decision. Specifically, the definition of "maximum term authorized" is proposed to be changed to reflect that the "maximum term authorized" includes all sentencing enhancements that apply because of the defendant’s prior criminal record.
Effective Date: The effective date of this amendment is November 1, 1997.