[DoodleDawg]

The appeals court must be full of psychics, since they imply they knew what was in the minds of the Federal attorneys at that time.

Not psychics, lawyers. The court lays out it's reasoning in their decision: Link. Seems pretty clear to me.

[mass55th]

Thanks for the link. After reading it, and checking out the Eighth Amendment, I can understand why the district court felt that the longer sentences could/would be in violation of that Amendment.