United States v. Ramirez

United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604 March 15, 2012 Before RICHARD D. CUDAHY, Circuit Judge TERENCE T. EVANS, Circuit Judge* JOHN DANIEL TINDER, Circuit Judge No. 09-3932 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Appeal from the United States Plaintiff-Appellee, District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, v. Western Division. SERGIO SANDOVAL RAMIREZ, No. 09 CR 50023-1 Defendant-Appellant. Frederick J. Kapala, Judge. No. 10-2190 Appeal from the United States UNITED STATES OF AMERICA District Court for the Plaintiff-Appellee, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. v. No. 09 CR 632-1 FRANCISCO OCAMPO-PINEDA, Defendant-Appellant. Virginia M. Kendall, Judge. * Circuit Judge Evans died on August 10, 2011, and did not participate in the decision of the Petition for Rehearing, which is being resolved by a quorum of the panel under 28 U.S.C. § 46(d). Appeal nos. 09-3032, et al., Page Two No. 10-2689 Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, Eastern Division. v. No. 09 CR 586-1 LUIS A. MANDUJANO-GONZALEZ Amy J. St. Eve, Defendant-Appellant. Judge. ORDER The defendants-appellants filed a petition for rehearing en banc. An answer was requested and filed. No judge in active service has requested a vote on the petition. Accordingly, the petition for rehearing en banc is DENIED. However, the amended opinion in this case initially issued in typescript form on December 23, 2011, and published on January 6, 2012, is amended as follows: In the opinion issued in typescript, after the third sentence on page 11, which reads “But Reyes Hernandez also emphasizes . . . Id. at 420.” insert as a footnote: This court does not overlook the fact that district courts retain substantial discretion to consider mitigation arguments at sentencing. As this court made clear in United States v. Reyes-Hernandez, 624 F.3d 405 (7th Cir. 2010), district courts may consider a fast-track argument, but they are not required to consider one. This opinion addresses a different question—when is a district court obliged to comment on a fast-track argument. Nothing in this opinion precludes a district court judge from considering a mitigation argument.