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Fifth Circuit flags, but dodges, circuit split over advisory guidelines and ex post facto issues

By Douglas A. Berman

Though decided last month, the Fifth Circuit just revised and re-released an interesting little decision, US v. Castillo-Estevez, No. 09-40096 (5th Cir. Feb. 9, 2010) (available here), which discusses one of my "favorite" unresolved post-Booker sentencing issues. Here is the heart of the ruling: In United States v. Rodarte-Vasquez, 488 F.3d 316 (5th Cir. 2007) (Jones, C.J., concurring), it was observed that the now-advisory guidelines should not raise ex post facto concerns because ?the sentence imposed by the court need not be harsher under later guidelines than it would have been under the guidelines in effect when the offense was committed.?  Rodarte-Vasquez, 488 F.3d at 325.  The Seventh Circuit adopted this view of the guidelines post-Booker in United States v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 12, 2010 (boomark / email).