To Be Reasoned, or Not? Tenth Goes Both Ways on When Court Must Give Reasons for Sentence

U.S. v. Vaca-Perez, 2006 WL 1285034 (5/11/06) - This previously withdrawn case is now back in the same form as before. It follows exactly Terry's and Joe's Sanchez-Juarez case. The judge's failure to give any reason for a within-guideline-range sentence was error where the defendant presented a nonfrivolous issue: that his prior convictions were not sufficiently serious to merit a guideline range sentence.

U.S. v. Gomez-Castillo, 2006 WL 1166119 (5/3/06) - On the other hand, the 10th affirms a sentence where the d.ct. did barely more than the d.ct. did in Sanchez-Juarez and Vaca-Perez. The d.ct. need not even mention § 3553(a).