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Federal Judiciary

: Second Circuit Sentencing Blog

Adelson Affirmed

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United States v. Adelson, Nos. 06-2738-cr (L), 06-3179 (XAP) (2d Cir. Dec. 9, 2008) (found here)

Sentence affirmed. Need I say more?

As you'll recall, Judge Rakoff -- in a blistering opinion critical of the Guidelines -- sentenced Richard Adelson to 42 months imprisonment notwithstanding an advisory Guidelines range of life. Here's my write-up of Judge Rakoff's admirable work.

Now comes the Second Circuit, which notes that district court decisions, if adequately explained, should be reviewed especially deferentially -- and, of course, that "[t]his is just such a case." It went on as follows:

After adopting many of he calculations in the Presentence Report, the able disrict judge properly calculated Adelson's total offense level and gave due consideration to the Section 3553(a) factors . . . . After carefully considering those factors, the District Court sentenced Adelson principally to 42 months imprisonment, a sentence substantially below the applicable Guidelines range of life in prison . . . . The Government argues that in doing so the District Court "discarded the Guidelines in favor of the District Court's personal view of the seriousness of the offense," resulting in "fail[ure] to give proper weight to the sentencing factors." But the record demonstrates that the District Court's decision to impose a below Guidelines sentence was not a failure or refusal to recognize the Guidelines, but rather a carefully considered reliance on the Section 3553(a) factors. In doing so, the District Court satisfied the requirements we described in Cavera, and we therefore affirm the sentence.

Well, if there is any doubt that the Second Circuit will defer to well-reasoned sentencing decisions regardless of the outcome, Adelson should put it to rest.

Note to practitioners and judges, though: Build your record.

Full post as published by Second Circuit Sentencing Blog on January 06, 2009 (boomark / email).