Notable Seventh Circuit opinion upholding 90-month sentence for child porn downloader

While on the road yesterday, I mised a notable Seventh Circuit panel ruling inwhich upholds a relatively lengthy (but still slightly below-guidelines) sentence for a (relatively sympathetic?) downloader of child porn.  The opinion in US v. Pape, No. 09-35413 (7th Cir. Apr. 15, 2010) (available here), starts this way:

Jason M. Pape pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B) and, on appeal, challenges his sentence. He was sentenced to 90 months’ imprisonment followed by 20 years’ supervised release.  He now claims that the district court failed to address his non-frivolous arguments in support of a two-year sentence including a plea for leniency based on his personal history as an upstanding member of his community and his exceptional family responsibilities for his children, some of whom have disabilities.  In addition, Pape contends that the district court failed to address his argument that disparities in the length of pornography sentences among different districts in Wisconsin and the purported lack of careful empirical study underpinning the child pornography Guidelines suggest that a sentence over two years is too high.

We affirm because the district court adequately considered Pape’s arguments about his history and parenting responsibilities.  Moreover, a district court is presumed to have considered arguments about unwarranted disparities if, as here, it sentences within or below the Guidelines, see United States v. Bartlett, 567 F.3d 901, 908 (7th Cir. 2009).  And, although district courts are certainly free to disagree with the child pornography Guidelines as applied to a particular case as long as the sentence imposed is reasonable, the district court here did not abuse its discretion when it implicitly rejected the imposition of a much lower sentence based on a disagreement with the Guidelines range.