holding that: despite the advisory nature of the Sentencing Guidelines, they remain “the starting point and the initial benchmark” of a district court’s sentencing analysis; the “district court should begin all sentencing proceedings by correctly calculating the applicable Guidelines range” and keep that range in mind throughout the sentencing process; and that “failing to calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range ... or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence&emdash;in-cluding an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range[,]” constitutes “significant procedural error;” ...
How later courts described this case
- holding that: despite the advisory nature of the Sentencing Guidelines, they remain “the starting point and the initial benchmark” of a district court’s sentencing analysis; the “district court should begin all sentencing proceedings by correctly calculating the applicable Guidelines range” and keep that range in mind throughout the sentencing process; and that “failing to calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range ... or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence&emdash;in-cluding an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range[,]” constitutes “significant procedural error;” ...
- explaining that a criminal sentence is 1 I would not reach whether my proposed Excessive Fines Clause test for civil fines also applies to criminal fines. Unlike civil fines, criminal fines are already governed by the Sentencing Guidelines and the factors laid out in 18 U.S.C. §§ 3553 (a) and 3572. So, a different test may be required in the criminal fines context. USCA11 Case: 20-10276 Date Filed: 12/29/2021 Page: 70 of 96 2 TJOFLAT, J., Concurring in Part and Dissenting in Part 20-10276 procedurally unreasonable when the district court “fail[s] to ade- quately explain the chosen sentence”
- concluding, in upholding a sentence of probation when the Guidelines sentencing range was 30 to 37 months of imprisonment, that “[g]iven the dramatic contrast between Gall's behavior before he joined the conspiracy and his conduct after withdrawing, it was not unreasonable for the District Judge to view Gall's immaturity at the time of the offense as a mitigating factor, and his later behavior as a sign that he had matured and would not engage in such impetuous and ill- considered conduct in the future. Indeed, his consideration of that factor finds support in our cases.”
- holding that a sentence is procedurally reasonable if "the district court committed no significant procedural error, such as failing to calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as mandatory, failing to consider the § 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based on clearly erroneous facts, or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence” (emphasis added)
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Justice Thomas,
dissenting.
Consistent with my dissenting opinion in Kimbrough v. United States, post, p. 114, I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals because the District Court committed statutory error when it departed below the applicable Guidelines range.