Is the Sixth Circuit's Vonner a goner?

Late yesterday, I received the very interesting news that the the Sixth Circuit issued an order on Thursday granting en banc review in US v. Vonner.  As detailed here, Vonner is the recent Sixth Circuit case in which Judge Martin declared a within-guideline sentence unreasonable for "lack of adequate explanation," and in which Judge Siler dissented to complain that the "numerous cases by our court on the reasonableness of sentences post-Booker have confused attorneys and district courts alike."

By now going en banc on reasonableness review in Vonner, the Sixth Circuit joins the Ninth Circuit (which, as detailed here, has reasonableness en banc cases now fully briefed and argued) in setting up one big ruling to help guide lower courts on post-Booker sentencing and reasonableness review.  Though I do not yet know the briefing/argument schedule for Vonner, it will be interesting to see which circuit can render a reasonable reasonableness opinion first (and whether either circuit will beat a possible forthcoming Supreme Court cert. grant on a post-Booker case).

Some recent Booker reasonableness posts:

• Is a Booker reasonableness cert grant on the horizon?
• When and how should SCOTUS take up reasonableness review?
• Are more than 99.9% of guideline sentences reasonable?
• Tracking reasonableness review outcomes ... final update?
• Oral argument in Ninth Circuit en banc reasonableness cases
• Is a presumption rebuttable if it is never rebutted?
• The central flaw in reasonableness review