In U.S. v. Talley, No. 05-11353 (Dec. 2, 2005), the Court rejected the government’s argument that, post-Booker, a sentence within the guideline range is "per se reasonable," but held that a sentence is not unreasonable when the district court fails to mention or discuss all of the sentencing factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
Citing U.S. v. Scott, 426 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 2005), the Court stated that "an acknowledgment by the district court that it has considered the defendant’s arguments and the factors in section 3553(a) is sufficient." In Talley’s case, the district court satisfied this requirement when it stated at sentencing: "Based on all the facts and circumstances of this case, I think that the guidelines do produce a fair and reasonable sentence considering the factors set forth in 18, section 3553(a)." No further elaboration was necessary.
The Court rejected the government’s position that a Guideline sentence was "per se reasonable," but noted that "use of the Guidelines remains central to the sentencing process." The Court added: "ordinarily we would expect a sentence within the Guideline range to be reasonable."
Reviewing the sentence for "reasonableness," the Court noted that this was a deferential standard of review. "In our evaluation of a sentence for reasonableness, we recognize that there is a range of reasonable sentences from which the district court may choose, and when the district court imposes a sentence within the advisory Guidelines range, we ordinarily will expect that choice to be reasonable." In Talley's case, he could not point to anything that suggested that his low-end of Guideline sentence was unreasonable.
