Sixth Circuit Grants En Banc Rehearing on Important Booker Issue

Last week the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit agreed to grant en banc review of the panel decision in US v. Vonner. 452 F.3d 560 (6th Cir. 2006). Vonner was the Court’s latest step to deal with when a guideline based sentence was unreasonable under Booker. See United States v. Webb, 403 F.3d 373, 383 (6th Cir.2005) (noting that “when a defendant challenges a district court’s sentencing determination, we are instructed to determine ‘whether [the] sentence is unreasonable”).

Vonner was a divided decision in which the majority declared a within-guideline sentence unreasonable for “lack of adequate explanation.” By agreeing to hear Vonner en banc, the Sixth Circuit joins the Ninth Circuit in now having a big en banc case to use to provide its district courts with guidance on post-Booker sentencing. See United States v. Carty, — F.3d —-, 2006 WL 2494311 (9th Cir. 2006).