Appellate Judges Disagree on Criminal Justice Act Appointments

A man serving a 71-month prison sentence for a firearms offense lost his Seventh Circuit appeal challenging the denial of a motion to reduce his sentence, but the judges couldn’t agree on whether he was entitled to appointed counsel.

While the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit unanimously affirmed the district court’s denial of Clarence Bonds’ early release motion, the judges weren’t able to reach any consensus on a second issue: whether the Criminal Justice Act authorizes the appointment of counsel to represent defendants appealing a decision on a 18 US.C § 3582(c) motion for early release.

The ...