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Judge Colloton calls upon Congress to address the post-Gall world

By Douglas A. Berman

In a concurrence to an Eighth Circuit reasonableness opinion in US v. Shy, No. 06-4011 (8th Cir. Aug 15, 2008) (available here), Circuit Judge Steven Colloton expresses concerns about sentencing disparity in the post-Booker world and urges Congress to do something about it.  Here are some key passages from the concurrence:The reason that the [below-guideline probation sentence at issue] must be affirmed is that in the aftermath of Booker, and especially Gall, the courts of appeals have only a modest role in reviewing the substantive reasonableness of sentences imposed above the statutory minimum sentence.... That the appellate court reasonably believes that a greater sentence was appropriate ? i.e., that a longer term of imprisonment was necessary to satisfy the purposes of § 3553(a)(2) ? is insufficient reason to reverse the district court...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on August 15, 2008 (boomark / email).