Appellate Law

CA1: First explores Gall in a GVR

By S. COTUS

US v. Taylor, No. 06-2216. ... Taylor was sentenced to one year in a halfway house, five years of probation, and a $10,000 fine, for aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2)? The government appealed.  The First remanded, but the Supreme Court, post-Gall remanded again.  The First now explains Gall as follows, ?makes clear that in the post-Booker world, district judges are empowered with considerable discretion in sentencing, as long as the sentence is generally reasonable and the court has followed the proper procedures.... [and a] ?need for an increased degree of justification commensurate with an increased degree of variance.?? Therefore, seeing that the First didn?t think that the District Court explained its reasoning, ?we think it best to remand to the district court for reconsideration with the benefit of all of these developments, as well as the concerns we expressed in our prior opinion.?  Earlier case here and our coverage here.

Full post as published by Appellate Law and Practice on July 09, 2008 (boomark / email).