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Yes, We Were Wrong;No, We Will Not Make It Right: The Seventh Circuit Denies Post-Conviction Relief From An Undisputed Sentencing Error Because It Occurred In The Post- Booker, Advisory Guidelines Era, Gregory S. Dierdorf

Seventh Circuit Review

Federal courts disfavor granting collateral relief from final criminal judgments. This mentality is premised on a need for finality in the criminal process; the idea that, at some point, a criminal case must come to an end. Post-conviction relief is available, however, where an error in the trial court causes a miscarriage of justice that must be remedied to preserve the integrity of the criminal justice system.

For example, the Seventh Circuit has granted post-conviction relief where the sentencing court miscalculated the defendant's prison sentence by misapplying the career offender-sentencing enhancement under the then-binding Federal Sentencing Guidelines. However, the court …

Don't Break The Safety Valve's Heart: How The Seventh Circuit Superimposes Substantial Assistance On The Mandatory Minimum Safety Valve's Complete Truthful Disclosure Requirement, Adrienne N. Kitchen

Seventh Circuit Review

Congress passed the safety valve to mitigate the disparate and often harsh sentences mandatory minimums impose on low-level drug defendants. But judicial interpretation continues to impose disparate sentences. In 2014, in United States v. Acevedo-Fitz, the Seventh Circuit reaffirmed its position in an ongoing circuit split regarding the safety valve. The safety valve requires defendants to meet five criteria, the fifth—sometimes called the heart of the safety valve—requires defendants provide complete truthful disclosure to prosecutors prior to sentencing. Judges interpret this requirement as imposing a burden on defendants to prove they met all five criteria without requiring the government …