Seventh Circuit refuses to bail out DOJ and the district court judge for their own screwup.

In an opinion by Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook, the Seventh Circuit found itself compelled to spank the District Court, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the the Federal Bureau of Prisons in one fell swoop.

It seems the Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded for re-sentencing consistent with the federal guidelines, a case involving Ramon Reyes-Sanchez, an illegal alien who re-entered the country after being deported. After remand, neither the District Court nor the U.S. Attorney did anything about getting the case back on the docket and after the defendant served his original erroneous sentence, he was released by the Bureau of Prisons and deported by the Department of Homeland Security.

The U.S. Attorney asked the Seventh Circuit to vacate its mandate and reinstate the previous (and erroneous) sentence because "otherwise [the case] will loiter on the district court’s docket until Reyes-Sanchez again illegally reenters the United States, is caught, and is compelled to resume serving time in this case."

In denying the government's request, the Court notes as follows:

It is not clear to us why leaving this case open on the district court’s docket is a bad thing. The prosecutor and district judge have themselves to blame for any untidiness. The district judge should have implemented our mandate without the need for prodding by the prosecutor—though the prosecutor could and should have reminded the judge about the need to act before Reyes-Sanchez was released. Meanwhile the United States Attorney should have notified the Bureau of Prisons and the immigration officials about the impending resentencing. Both the United States Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Prisons are components of the Department of Justice, not hostile sovereigns that keep secrets from each other. (The motion’s assertion that "[t]he United States did not learn of the defendant’s release and deportation until May of 2007" is hard to fathom: the Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Homeland Security are part of “the United States”.)

Ouch!

Hat tip to Simon at Stubborn Facts.