United States v. Thompson
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
190 F.Supp.2d 138 (2002)
Thompson (defendant) pleaded guilty to distributing crack cocaine and was originally sentenced to 60 rather than 77 months based on extraordinary family circumstances: he grew up in housing projects, barely knew his incarcerated father, had never been locked up before, and had dropped out of high school to support his pregnant girlfriend, later his fiancée, through steady work until his arrest. The First Circuit vacated that sentence in a prior appeal (Thompson II), ruling the district judge should have compared Thompson's circumstances to all federal defendants generally, not just those convicted of similar crimes, and remanded for resentencing. On remand, Thompson again sought a downward departure, now also citing his exemplary conduct in prison, where he took every available course to better himself.
Whether a defendant may rely on "extraordinary family circumstances" to reduce a federal sentence if he has not yet been incarcerated and can show that the care he provided his family was irreplaceable or otherwise extraordinary.