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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 206 Filed 04/16/21 Page 8of 22
As Ms. Maxwell’s opening memorandum (“Mem.”) has demonstrated, proper application
of Landgraf prohibits retroactive application of the 2003 Amendment. Congressional intent
could not be clearer; Congress considered and expressly rejected a provision that would have
made the 2003 Amendment retroactive. That ends the Landgraf inquiry at step one. Even if the
inquiry proceeds to step two, however, the government has failed to adequately rebut Ms.
Maxwell’s showing that application of the 2003 Amendment here would have impermissible
retroactive effects.
A, Step One: Congress Did Not Expressly Prescribe Retroactivity and Rejected
a Proposal to Do So.
1. Congress’ explicit rejection of a retroactivity provision ends the
inquiry at step one in Ms. Maxwell’s favor.
“TW |here the congressional intent is clear, it governs.” Landgraf, 511 U.S. at 264
(quoting Kaiser Aluminum & Chem. Corp. v. Bonjorno, 494 U.S. 827, 837 (1990)). As Ms.
Maxwell’s opening memorandum demonstrated, congressional intent with respect to the
retroactive application of the 2003 Amendment is clear: the House version of the bill included
an express retroactivity provision, the Senate version contained no retroactivity provision, and, in
the words of one of the bill’s co-sponsors, the House-Senate conference “agreed to drop
language from the original House-passed bill that would have extended the limitations period
retroactively.” Senator Leahy, Amber Legislation, Cong. Rec. 149:50, $5147 (2003). The Court
need look no further. Such an unambiguous expression of congressional intent establishes
conclusively that the 2003 Amendment is not retroactive.
The government argues that Congress’ explicit rejection of a retroactivity provision is not
probative, because according to Senator Leahy’s floor statement, the decision was grounded in
concerms about the revival of time-barred charges rather than the extension of live charges, and at
least some of the charges here were live at the time of the 2003 Amendment. But to the extent
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