7th Circuit speaks on plain error (and follows Crosby)

I just returned from the terrific AFDAs full-day seminar on “Federal Sentencing In A New Era After Booker/Fanfan” (at which I learned a lot and from which hope to share some new insights over the weekend).  And I returned to find that the Seventh Circuit, per Judge Posner, has weighed in on plain error and has, with a slight tweak, followed the lead of the Second Circuit in Crosby. 

The opinion in US v. Paladino, No. 03-2296 (7th Cir. Feb. 25, 2005) (available here), is a wonderful and remarkable effort, and it includes two dissents from the denial of rehearing en banc. As Judge Posner explains in the last paragraph, the Paladino opinion “was circulated to the entire court before issuance [and all] but two members of the court in regular active service voted not to hear the case en banc.”

There are many amazing passages in Judge Posner’s opinion and in the en banc dissents of Judges Ripple and Kanne.  I hope to comment on Paladino and on the deepening plain error three-way split in the circuits this weekend, but for now every Booker watcher can do their own read (and add comments below) of this latest Posner contribution to our new sentencing world.