Booker's Unnoticed Victim: The Importance of Providing Notice Prior to Sua Sponte Non-Guidelines Sentences

Abstract

This paper 1) notices that Booker uprooted the statutory basis for the departure concept, suggesting that courts are at liberty to deviate from precedent rooted in the pre-Booker concept; 2) explains why Rule 32(i)(1)(C) as read by Burns v United States requires notice prior to sua sponte non-Guidelines sentences in those jurisdictions that require a distinct legal determination if a non-Guidelines sentence is warranted; and 3) discusses why such notice would be beneficial in other jurisdictions.