Gozlon-Peretz v. United States

Background

Moshe Gozlon-Peretz, convicted of large-scale heroin offenses, committed the crimes on February 26, 1987 — after the Anti-Drug Abuse Act (ADAA) was enacted on October 27, 1986 but before November 1, 1987, the date when the Sentencing Reform Act’s supervised-release procedures became effective. At sentencing, the District Court imposed special parole, while the Third Circuit held that the ADAA required supervised release. The Courts of Appeals were split on how to treat crimes in that interim period, and the Supreme Court granted review.

Reasoning

The Court considered whether ADAA §1002’s language requiring “supervised release” took effect when the ADAA was enacted. The Justices said that, unless Congress clearly says otherwise, a law takes effect on enactment. Congress had substituted “supervised release” for “special parole” in §1002 and did not include a delayed effective date for that provision. The Court also relied on the Sentencing Reform Act’s definition of supervised release (even though many of its procedures became effective later) and rejected arguments about statutory anomalies and the rule of lenity. The Court therefore affirmed the Third Circuit: supervised release applies for qualifying drug offenses committed in the interim period.

Real world impact

The ruling resolves the split among federal appeals courts. It requires sentencing courts to impose the supervised-release terms specified in ADAA §1002 — rather than special parole — for drug offenders whose crimes occurred between October 27, 1986 and November 1, 1987. Some related statutory inconsistencies were noted but do not change the outcome.