Eighth Circuit vacates another below guideline sentence

Continuing an appellate pattern in which below-guideline sentences are getting far greater scrutiny than within- or above-guideline sentences (details here and here and here), the Eighth Circuit today vacated a sentence in US v. Myers, No. 05-1543 (8th Cir. Mar. 2, 2006) (available here). 

In Myers, the majority ultimately concludes the record is not sufficiently developed to support a below-guideline sentence of a year down from a guideline range of 37-46 months: “We remand for imposition of sentence following more explicit and thorough consideration of all factors enumerated in section 3553(a), without expressing any opinion on the reasonableness of the sentence that should be imposed.”  Notably, Judge Bye dissents and makes repeated references to the record below in support this conclusion: “Based on the district court’s careful consideration of the circumstances surrounding this case, and its thorough analysis of the § 3553(a) factors, I cannot say the sentence imposed was unreasonable.”