"More than a Formality: The Case for Meaningful Substantive Reasonableness Review"

The title of this post is the title of this astute new Note just published in the January 2014 issue of the Harvard Law Review. Here is the Note's introduction:

Appellate review of sentencing is under assault.  When the Supreme Court rendered the Federal Sentencing Guidelines nonbinding in United States v. Booker, it established appellate review of federal sentences for reasonableness to cabin sentencing judges’ newly acquired discretion.  The substantive component of this review — which authorizes appellate courts to vacate those sentences that reflect clear errors in judgment or that are excessively disproportionate — is a fundament of the post-Booker sentencing regime, but one that courts have struggled to implement.  Indeed, a troubling consensus is emerging that substantive reasonableness review is unworkable or even undesirable.  Such views neglect unwarranted disparities in sentences and threaten to disrupt the feedback loop between courts and the U.S. Sentencing Commission (the Commission) that appellate review was intended to serve.  If sentencing is to be fair, appellate courts must do better. This Note argues that they can.

This Note proceeds in five parts.  Part I surveys the history of appellate review of federal sentences.  Part II relies on case law and recent statements by a variety of stakeholders to examine the state of substantive reasonableness review in the circuit courts.  Part III defends meaningful substantive reasonableness review as essential to promoting fairness and uniformity in federal sentencing.  Part IV identifies ways in which the courts and the Commission can work toward a more effective and stable system of substantive review. Part V concludes.