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What were the dissenting opinions of Koon v. US?
Koon v. United States, 518 US 81 (1996) There were three other opinions issued (other than the majority opinion), all concurring in part and dissenting in part. … Justice Stevens wrote that he does not believe the District Court abused discretion. He accepts all parts of the majority opinion except that he does "not understand the opinion to foreclose the District Court from basing a downward departure on an aggregation of factors each of which might in itself be insufficient to justify a departure." Justice Souter wrote, with which Justice Ginsburg joined, that he affirmed the Circuit Court's "rejection of the downward departures based on susceptibility to abuse in prison and on successive prosecution, for to do otherwise would be to attribute an element of irrationality to the Commission and to its 'heartland' concept." Justice Breyer wrote, with which Justice Ginsburg joined, that the Guideline called into question encompasses the possibility of a "double prosecution." "For that reason, a simple double prosecution, without more, does not support a departure." Also, potential mistreatment in prison cannot be used for departure because then everybody would use that as an excuse. (MORE)
