Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Sentencing Law and Policy

Criminal Law

: Sentencing Law and Policy

Notable split decision from Eigth Circuit on harmless error sentencing review

By Douglas A. Berman

The Eight Circuit has an interesting and thoughtful discussion of sentencing review today in its split decision in US v. Henson, No. 07-1993 (Nov. 24, 2008) (available here).  This final paragraph of the dissent by Judge Shepard provides an effective summary of what gets debated in the opinion: In sum, absent significant procedural error, the sentencing explanation given by the district court in this case might be sufficient.  However, the district court committed the significant procedural error of presuming Henson?s Guidelines range to be reasonable, burdening the government with demonstrating the error?s harmlessness, i.e., that the district court did not rest Henson?s very-bottom-of-the- Guidelines-range sentence on the presumption . The majority agrees but finds that the government made the requisite showing by pointing to the district court?s apparent attempt to innoculate Henson?s sentence from reversal by stating that, even without the presumption, it would impose an identical sentence...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on November 24, 2008 (boomark / email).