Booker in the alternative

The DC Circuit, which makes sure its rare sentencing opinions are worth a close read, today issued US v. Booker, No. 04-3152 (DC Cir. Feb. 3, 2006) (available here), an interesting opinion discussing alternative sentencing.  (For those scoring at home, this is a different Booker; not Freddie Booker of case-name fame, but Charles Booker.)  In this Booker, the DC Circuit does a great job reviewing the current alternative sentencing landscape in the course of concluding that "an 'alternative sentence' is not really a 'sentence,'" and thus requiring a remand for full resentencing.  Among other notable aspects of this Booker, the DC Circuit stresses the other Booker's "emphasis on sentencing judges' discretion," and the fact that "imposition of a discretionary, post-Booker sentence is not a ministerial task." (emphasis in original." 

Coincidentally, late yesterday, the Fifth Circuit had occasion to discuss an alternative sentence at some length in US v. Story, No. 04-41323 (5th Cir. Feb. 2, 2006) (avalable here).  Though the alternative sentence discussion is interesting, Story actually merits a close read because the it clarifies "an apparent discrepancy" in the Fifth Circuit's "treatment of whether or not appeal waivers implicate this court's jurisdiction."