Sentencing -- reasonableness.

• Date: 23 October 2014

Byline: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Criminal

Sentencing -- reasonableness

A 90-year sentence for sexually assaulting three children is not unreasonable.

"Horton has not demonstrated that his de facto life sentence is unreasonable. Although a sentence that is effectively for life 'is not to be ordered lightly,' we have upheld such sentences where the sentencing judge recognized 'the likelihood of a defendant's death in prison, but concluded that other factors warranted the particular sentence.' United States v. Vallar, 635 F.3d 271, 280 (7th Cir. 2011) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see United States v. Noel, 581 F.3d 490, 492-93, 500-01 (7th Cir. 2009) (80-year sentence reasonable for producing child pornography where defendant did not molest victim); United States v. Chapman, 694 F.3d 908, 915-16 (7th Cir. 2012) (40-year sentence reasonable for 46-year-old defendant who produced...