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People v. Fern11/18/1999
Agenda 26-May 1999.
JUSTICE BILANDIC delivered the opinion of the court:
The issue in this appeal is whether the propriety of a criminal sentence may be Judged by comparing it to the sentences imposed on defendants in other cases. We hold that the excessiveness of a sentence may not be determined from a consideration of the sentences imposed on defendants in separate, unrelated cases.
FACTS
Defendant, Jay Harry Fern, was charged in the circuit court of McHenry County with the unlawful delivery of 250 grams of cocaine. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 56½, par. 1401(a)(2). This offense carried a sentencing range of 9 to 40 years' imprisonment. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 56½, par. 1401(a)(2)(B). Defendant entered an open plea of guilty and was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment.
Defendant thereafter filed a motion to reconsider his sentence pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 604(d) (145 Ill. 2d R. 604(d)). Defendant argued that his 25-year sentence was excessive because it failed to account for his rehabilitative potential. In this regard, defendant noted his long marriage, his three children, and his consistent employment history. Defendant also pointed out that he had only one prior conviction, and that he had accepted responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty.
Defendant also argued that his sentence was excessive when compared to the sentences imposed on defendants in other cases for the same or more serious drug offenses. Defendant included a chart of Illinois decisions in which a person convicted of the same or a more serious drug crime was given a sentence shorter than that given to defendant in this case. Based on this comparative information, defendant argued that his sentence was excessive and "should be reduced to bring it in line with sentences for comparable offenses."
The State moved to strike the portion of defendant's motion that asserted his "comparative sentencing" analysis. The State asserted that such an analysis was not a valid basis for judging the propriety of a sentence. The circuit court granted the State's motion to strike. The circuit court subsequently denied defendant's motion to reconsider his sentence.
The appellate court affirmed the circuit court. The appellate court rejected defendant's comparative sentencing analysis. The court reaffirmed its previous decisions declining to use a comparative sentencing analysis in evaluating the propriety of a sentence. The court noted, however, that appellate court decisions from other districts had used sentencing information from similar cases to determine whether the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. No. 2-97-0917 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).
We allowed defendant's petition for leave to appeal. 177 Ill. 2d R. 315. We now affirm the appellate court.
ANALYSIS
Defendant contends that the circuit court erred in striking his comparative sentencing argument. He asserts that courts, if presented with comparative sentencing information, must consider it and act on it where the information reveals "an unexplainable and gross disparity." Defendant asks this court to reduce his sentence on the ground that it is "inexplicably and grossly disparate and excessive when compared to sentences imposed on numerous similarly-situated defendants." The issue we must decide, therefore, is whether the excessiveness of a sentence may be determined from a consideration of the sentences imposed on defendants in separate, unrelated cases. We now hold that such information is not a proper basis for judging the excessiveness of a sentence.
A brief review of our state's sentencing struc
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