United States v. Damon

HILL, Senior Circuit Judge,

concurring.

I concur in the judgment and in all of the opinion of Judge Lynch except that portion commencing on page 15, remarking upon the fact that the law forbids a sentencing judge from ascertaining the existence, vel non, of pertinent facts and shouldering the burden “to explain why.”

The reason for my concurrence is that Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990) and decisions of this court, interpreting Taylor, upon which the opinion relies, require this result. Being bound, I do not dissent from our requiring a sentencing judge “to ignore the reality of the prior offense in determining whether that offense is a crime of violence.” We import instructions — “Don’t ask. Don’t tell.”