A federal appeals court on Monday vacated a 30-day prison sentence for a neighbor of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) who assaulted him in 2017, ruling it was overly lenient and ordering a resentencing.
In a 16-page opinion, Judge Jane B. Stranch of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, writes that the lower court where Rene Boucher pleaded guilty to assaulting a member of Congress had “no compelling justification” for sentencing him far below federal guidelines.
“Federal defendants with a criminal history category of I [the lowest possible level] who were convicted of assault received an average sentence of 26 months’ imprisonment and a median sentence of 21 months,” the ruling states, citing data. “We therefore VACATE Boucher’s sentence and REMAND for resentencing.”
Federal appeals court sides with Trump admin in judge’s Mahmoud Khalil decision
Top House GOP leader demands Tim Walz resign as Minneapolis erupts over ICE shooting
Alarming Video: Furious Somali Men Pour out of ‘Daycare’ and Accost Journalist Investigating Where $2.25 Million in Grant Money Went
House Democrats Are Tearing Themselves Apart Over ‘Performative’ Kristi Noem Impeachment Effort
Trump to meet with Venezuela’s opposition leader after praising ‘terrific’ Maduro loyalist
ICE deputy director resigns from agency to run for Congress
Israel will honor the late Charlie Kirk with award for opposing antisemitism
Watch: Josh Hawley’s Simple Pregnancy Question Traps Dems’ Expert Witness So Thoroughly That She’s Reduced to a Repeating, Looping Mess… and She’s a Medical Doctor
Trump threatens Minnesota with Insurrection Act after second federal shooting reignites protesters
Divine Judgement? Watch the Humiliating Moment Tim Walz Gets the ‘Tower of Babel’ Treatment as His Audio Goes Wild on National TV
Man runs into Florida street to save two young children who wandered away from rental home
Appeals judge seems skeptical of sentence for pro-Trump Colorado clerk Tina Peters
Obama wingman Eric Holder defended Walz’s vetting — then Minnesota’s fraud scandal erupted
Fox News Host Confronts Minneapolis Mayor to His Face on Dangerous ICE Rhetoric: ‘Here’s the Little Secret’
Cynthia Lummis endorses Hageman for Wyoming Senate seat
The opinion offers examples of other 30-day sentences for assaulting members of Congress and notes that the damage paled in comparison to that of Boucher, who broke five of Paul’s ribs and caused injuries that later required part of Paul’s lung to be removed.
For example, in 1981, two defendants were each sentenced to 30 days for throwing eggs at a congressman without hitting him, while a third defendant was sentenced to 15 days for spitting on a senator at an airport, writes Stranch, an Obama appointee.
“These prison terms were similar to Boucher’s, but the offense conduct was quite different—as the Government argues, ‘it is difficult to understand why a tackle resulting in long-term serious injuries warrants the same sentence as an egg toss or spit in the face,’” the ruling states.
Federal appeals court sides with Trump admin in judge’s Mahmoud Khalil decision
Top House GOP leader demands Tim Walz resign as Minneapolis erupts over ICE shooting
Alarming Video: Furious Somali Men Pour out of ‘Daycare’ and Accost Journalist Investigating Where $2.25 Million in Grant Money Went
House Democrats Are Tearing Themselves Apart Over ‘Performative’ Kristi Noem Impeachment Effort
Trump to meet with Venezuela’s opposition leader after praising ‘terrific’ Maduro loyalist
ICE deputy director resigns from agency to run for Congress
Israel will honor the late Charlie Kirk with award for opposing antisemitism
Watch: Josh Hawley’s Simple Pregnancy Question Traps Dems’ Expert Witness So Thoroughly That She’s Reduced to a Repeating, Looping Mess… and She’s a Medical Doctor
Trump threatens Minnesota with Insurrection Act after second federal shooting reignites protesters
Divine Judgement? Watch the Humiliating Moment Tim Walz Gets the ‘Tower of Babel’ Treatment as His Audio Goes Wild on National TV
Man runs into Florida street to save two young children who wandered away from rental home
Appeals judge seems skeptical of sentence for pro-Trump Colorado clerk Tina Peters
Obama wingman Eric Holder defended Walz’s vetting — then Minnesota’s fraud scandal erupted
Fox News Host Confronts Minneapolis Mayor to His Face on Dangerous ICE Rhetoric: ‘Here’s the Little Secret’
Cynthia Lummis endorses Hageman for Wyoming Senate seat
However, the ruling adds that “while that is true, those three cases occurred roughly 40 years ago, before the Sentencing Commission or the Guidelines even existed. Their age and limited number make them less helpful to our analysis.”
More recent cases involving assaults on federal officers involve significantly longer sentences, such as a 2015 sentence of 24 months for a defendant who pushed a door into the arm of a government doctor and a 2014 case in which the defendant was given 21 months for bloodying a customs officer’s nose and ear.
Story cited here.
