Sentencing – 8th Amendment

By: Derek Hawkins//June 13, 2017//

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Steven Waldrip

Case No.: 16-2294

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and KANNE and ROVNER, Cir‐ cuit Judges

Focus: Sentencing – 8^th Amendment

A jury convicted Steven Waldrip of distributing heroin under the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Because death resulted from the use of that heroin, Waldrip faced a twenty‐year mandatory‐ minimum sentence. § 841(b)(1)(C). The district court sentenced him to 280 months. On appeal, Waldrip argues that the government provided insufficient evidence to prove that the heroin was a but‐for cause of the victim’s death, that § 841(b)(1)(C) is unconstitutionally vague, and that his 280‐ month sentence violates the Eighth Amendment’s proportionality requirement. We reject those claims.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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