United States v. Clark

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

DOUMAR, District Judge.

Appellee-Defendant Justin Clark was convicted of driving while intoxicated in a federal enclave under a Virginia statute assimilated as federal law pursuant to the Assimilated Crimes Act. The offense carries a mandatory minimum prison term of twenty days, which the Magistrate Judge who sentenced Clark did not impose. The Government appealed the sentence to this Court contending that the Magistrate Judge violated the law by not imposing the mandatory minimum sentence. Clark retorts that federal courts have discretion not to impose mandatory…