10th Circuit vacates 3-year sentence for man who threatened public officials

The en banc 10th Circuit voted 11-1 to vacate the three-year sentence of Malachi Mathias Moon Seals, who violated probation by threatening a former CIA official days after being sentenced for threatening members of Congress and their families.

Judge Timothy Tymkovich's plurality opinion overturned circuit precedent, ruling judges must sentence probation violators only for the violation itself, not re-litigate the original crime — aligning the 10th Circuit with other circuits' practice.

Judge Gregory Phillips dissented at length, warning the ruling returns sentencing to a 'discretion-driven, disparity-ridden, hope-I-get-the-lenient-judge' era and invited the Supreme Court or Sentencing Commission to fix it. Moon Seals, now 23, was released from federal custody in April, before the ruling that reshapes how his case will be reconsidered.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.