INTRODUCING A NEW FEATURE - "PC WORLD"

The circuit is increasingly publishing per curiam (or "PC") opinions in criminal cases. These opinions tend to either answer open questions or make official rulings that have previously appeared only in non-precedential summary orders. PC's are generally short and contain little or no reasoning, which render them very much like - except for their precedential value - summary orders. In light of this, the Blog will now gather PC's in a separate, occasional feature known as "PC World," so that time and space can be dedicated to the court's more salient work. With that introduction, here are the first two:

In United States v. Amico, No. 08-1338-cr (2d Cir. July 21, 2009) (per curiam), the court joined the Sixth, Seventh and Tenth Circuits in holding that a 2001 ameliorating amendment to the "gross receipts" provision, codified in the November 1, 2008, guideline manual as U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(14)(A), is not retroactive. This had been an open question here.

In United States v. Martinez, No. 08-3454-cr (2d Cir. July 13, 2009) (per curiam), the court held that a crack defendant who was sentenced as a career offender was not eligible for a sentencing reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) because his original sentence was "based on" the career offender guideline and not the crack cocaine guideline. The court had previously so held only in summary orders.