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Seventh Circuit reinforces importance of adequate sentencing explanations

By Douglas A. Berman

Two relatively minor rulings from the Seventh Circuit today, US v. Arberry, No. 09-2668 (7th Cir. July 16, 2010) (available here), and US v. Johnson, No. 09-3247 (7th Cir. July 16, 2010) (available here), reinforce a major post-Booker principle that the Seventh Circuit has been particularly good at policing: "that the sentencing court must consider all principal, nonfrivolous arguments," Arberry, slip op. at 2, and that if "the record does not reveal an adequate explanation of the chosen sentence, [the defendant's] sentence must be reversed." Johnson, slip op. at 16.

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 16, 2010 (boomark / email).