Two important reasonableness opinions from the Seventh Circuit

Though I am distracted by other on-going events, I did see two significant reasonableness opinions from the Seventh Circuit today.  Until I have time for broader comment, I’ll just post links and the opening paragraphs of these notable decisions:

US v. Lange, No. 05-2787 (7th Cir. Apr. 28, 2006) (available here):

Glenn Lange plead guilty to distributing child pornography.  He claims that he amassed his collection of pornographic photographs because his “Asperger’s-like” disorder made him unable to control his compulsion to do so. He requested a downward departure on the basis of diminished capacity, which the district court denied. After reviewing the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), the district court sentenced Lange to 55 months imprisonment, a sentence within the advisory Guidelines range.  He appeals, claiming that the sentence was unreasonable. For the following reasons, we now affirm.

US v. Baker, No. 05-2499 (7th Cir. Apr. 28, 2006) (available here):

On August 19, 2004, a grand jury sitting in the Central District of Illinois returned a threecount indictment charging John Baker with two counts of distribution of child pornography, see 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(1), and one count of possession of child pornography, see id. § 2252A(5)(B). In compliance with a plea agreement, Mr. Baker pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography in exchange for the dismissal of the remaining counts.  The district court sentenced Mr. Baker to 87 months’ imprisonment, a term below the advisory guidelines range of 108 to 135 months.  The court also imposed a lifetime of supervised release.  The Government now appeals; it submits that the sentence imposed by the district court is unreasonably low. For the reasons set forth in the following opinion, we affirm the judgment of the district court.