United States v. Hendrickson

SENTENCING OPINION AND STATEMENT OF REASONING UNDER 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c)

•MARK W. BENNETT, District Judge.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

7. INTRODUCTION.1169

II. ANALYSIS.1170

A. Sentencing Methodology .1170

B. Addiction as a Mitigating Factor under § 3553(a).1171

1. Addiction and culpability.1171

2. Addiction and district courts’ post-Gall discretion.1176

III. CONCLUSION. 1179

When science began to study addictive behavior in the 1930s, people addicted to drugs were thought to be morally flawed and lacking in willpower. Those views shaped society’s responses to drug abuse, treating it as a moral failing rather…