The Fifth Circuit Gets Benchslapped*

In a three-tiered court system like we have in the US, the Supreme Court is supposed to save its precious time for cases raising major issues that will impact lots of cases in the courts below. It's the mid-level Courts of Appeals that are supposed to serve the less glamorous, but no less important, role of error correction - making sure the trial courts got the law right in the first place. So when one of the Circuits gets it so wrong that the Supremes have to step in and fix it, you get opinions like Salinas v. United States, which reads in its entirety:

PER CURIAM.

The petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the motion of petitioner for leave to proceed in forma pauperis are granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the Fifth Circuit for further consideration.

The Fifth Circuit concluded that petitioner’s prior conviction for simple possession of a controlled substance constituted a “controlled substance offense” for purposes of United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual §4B1.1(a) (2003). The term “controlled substance offense” is defined in pertinent part, however, as “an offense under federal or state law . . . that prohibits . . . the possession of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) with intent to manufacture, import, export, distribute, or dispense.” §4B1.2(b) (emphasis added). Accordingly, the Fifth Circuit erred in treating petitioner’s conviction for simple possession as a “controlled substance offense.” The Solicitor General acknowledges that the Fifth Circuit incorrectly ruled for the United States on this ground. Brief in Opposition 8–9.

Wow, not exactly a rousing "atta boy" for the Fifth, huh?

* I wish I could take credit for the term "benchslapped," but I read it in a comment on The Volokh Conspiracy a little while back.