United States v. Rebecca Ann Smith, United States of America v. Clifford Rickard Arthur

FERGUSON, Circuit Judge, with whom BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judge,

joins, dissenting:

Congress has told federal judges that youths who are entitled to probation under the Youth Corrections Act may not be put in jail as a condition precedent to receiving probation. I therefore dissent.

The majority holds that “split sentences, as authorized by 18 U.S.C. § 3651, are permissible under the YCA.” This conclusion follows from the premise that “courts sentencing youth offenders are meant to enjoy whatever powers are conferred by section 3651 as amended since 1950.”

It must be assumed that the majority’s…