United States v. Braggs’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 federal appellate ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 35 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “first ensuring] that the district court committed no significant procedural error, such as failing to calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as mandatory, failing to consider the § 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based on clearly erroneous facts, or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence-including an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Waldner · United States v. Martha Lounsbury

2. “The district court should begin with a correct calculation of the advisory Sentencing Guidelines range. Then, after giving both parties a chance to argue for the sentence they deem appropriate, the court should consider all of the factors listed in 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (a) to determine whether they support the sentence requested by either party. The district court may not assume that the Guidelines range is reasonable, but instead “must make an individualized assessment based on the facts presented.” If the court determines that a sentence outside of the Guidelines is called for, it “must consider the extent of the deviation and ensure that the justification is sufficiently compelling to support the degree of the variance.” The sentence chosen should be adequately explained so as “to allow for meaningful appellate review and to promote the perception of fair sentencing.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Waldner