Judge Richard Sullivan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit called for his colleagues on Thursday to reconsider the circuit’s narcotics sentencing enhancement precedent, calling it “hopelessly difficult” to administer.

In a ruling Thursday, the New York City-based federal appeals court said that drug trafficker Robert J. Chaires’ two prior state narcotics convictions shouldn’t have triggered a higher sentence because the state statutes in question are broader than the definition of a controlled substance offense set out in federal sentencing guidelines.