Skip to content
Version 1.0.0
Sentencing Law and Policy
Part of the Law Professor Blogs Network

Still clearing out the Booker pipeline

By Douglas Berman

Two recent decisions from the Fifth and Seventh Circuits highlight that, a full 14 months after the Supreme Court’s Booker ruling, the appellate pipeline still has cases being cleared out:

  • The Fifth Circuit in US vs. Robles-Vertiz, No. 04-50585 (5th Cir. Mar. 6, 2006) (available here), disposes of an appeal GVRed by the Supreme Court by concluding the defendant “cannot satisfy plain error review [and] cannot demonstrate the presence of extraordinary circumstances that would entitle him to resentencing.”
  • The Seventh Circuit in US vs. Bonner, No. 02-4272 (7th Cir. Mar. 7, 2006) (available here), clarifies that a full resentencing should take place when a Paladino limited Booker plain-error remand would be appropriate but the original sentencing judge is unavailable.