Court Opinion

ID: 9814024
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 23:30:03.654927+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:33:21.172584
License: Public Domain

*418KAREN NELSON MOORE,
Circuit Judge, concurring.
Because Thompson had a more extensive criminal history than his co-conspirator Jefferson, it is unnecessary to determine the effect, if any, of our pre-Booker precedent cited in the majority opinion regarding the requirement in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6) that courts must consider in sentencing “the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct.” As Thompson and Jefferson do not have “similar records,” there are no “unwarranted sentence disparities” presented by Thompson that would trigger § 3553(a)(6). In my view, § 3553(a)(6) may require comparison of sentences of co-participants in particular crimes “to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities,” but we need not, and do not, reach that issue today because of the differences between Thompson and Jefferson. With that understanding, I concur.