Cory Ratzloff v. United States

In Stinson v. United States, 508 U.S. 36 (1993), this Court held that the United States Sentencing Commission’s commentary on the Sentencing Guidelines should be treated like “an agency’s interpretation of its own legislative rules.” Id. at 45. At the time, that meant the commentary had to be afforded “ ‘controlling weight unless it [was] plainly erroneous or inconsistent with’ ” the Guidelines themselves. Id. (quoting Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., 325 U.S. 410, 414 (1945)). In Kisor v. Wilkie, 139 S. Ct. 2400 (2019), this Court articulated administrative law principles that circumscribe the deference courts must afford to agencies’ interpretations of their own legislative rules. Id. at 2414–16. Notwithstanding Kisor, six Courts of Appeals continue to apply Stinson’s more extreme form of deference to Guidelines commentary. The Question Presented is: Whether the administrative law principles articulated in Kisor limit the deference owed to the United States Sentencing Commission’s commentary on the Sentencing Guidelines.