Resentencing ordered of Harney County ranchers

A panel of federal appeals court judges has ordered a district court to resentence a pair of Harney County ranchers for intentionally starting grass fires. Steven Hammond, 45, and his father, Dwight Hammond Jr., 72, have already served time for fires set on their ranch that spread to public land near Steens Mountain, but the panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says it wasn’t enough. The panel vacated their sentences earlier this month and remanded them for resentencing. “The panel held that the district court illegally sentenced the defendants to terms of imprisonment less than the statutory minimum,” acting appellate judge Stephen Murphy wrote in the panel’s opinion. Federal law requires a minimum sentence of five years for anyone who damages or destroys public property with fire. The Hammonds responded Friday by asking for a new hearing before all 11 judges in the court, arguing the panel overlooked crucial facts. The Hammonds’ attorneys say the government didn’t fight for stiffer sentences during sentencing and that the government waived its right to appeal in reaching a plea agreement. “Imposing the five-year term on either defendant will result in gross injustice,” their attorneys wrote in the request. They wrote that Congress added the five-year minimum to an existing arson crime as part of an effort to combat terrorists...more

Another "anti-terrorism" act which is striking home folks.