Greenlaw v. United States
United States Supreme Court
554 U.S. 237 (2008)
- Written by Heather Whittemore, JD
Facts
Michael J. Greenlaw (defendant) was convicted of several drug and firearm offenses and was sentenced to 442 months in prison. Greenlaw appealed, arguing that his sentence was unreasonably long. The court of appeals determined sua sponte that applicable law required Greenlaw’s sentence to be 15 years longer, for a total of 622 months. The court of appeals cited Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52 to justify its decision, arguing that an appellate court may consider a plain error of a lower court even if the plain error was not brought to the court’s attention by a party to the case. The court of appeals remanded the case to the trial court to increase Greenlaw’s sentence. Greenlaw appealed, arguing that the court of appeals acted outside its authority in increasing his prison sentence without being asked to by the United States government (plaintiff).
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ginsburg, J.)
Concurrence (Breyer, J.)
Dissent (Alito, J.)
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