United States v. Stewart

ORDER

Alphonso Stewart pleaded guilty to crack offenses and was sentenced to 120 months in prison. On appeal he asserts that the disparity between the statutory minimum sentences for crack and powder cocaine offenses violates the equal protection component found in the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause. See, e.g., United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, 464, 116 S.Ct. 1480, 134 L.Ed.2d 687 (1996), citing Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497, 500, 74 S.Ct. 693, 98 L.Ed. 884 (1954). He does so largely to preserve the issue for further review, because, as he acknowledges, the law in this circuit…