Williams v. United States

Summary

The Supreme Court held that a district court's reliance on an invalid ground for departing from the guideline sentencing range—here, prior arrests not resulting in prosecution, a factor the Sentencing Commission has expressly rejected as a standalone basis for departure—is an 'incorrect application of the sentencing guidelines' under 18 U.S.C. § 3742(f)(1), and that a court of appeals may not affirm a departure sentence resting on both valid and invalid factors solely on its own reasonableness assessment under § 3742(f)(2). Remand is required unless the reviewing court concludes, on the record as a whole, that the error was harmless—i.e., that the district court would have imposed the same sentence absent the invalid factor—with the challenger bearing only the initial burden of showing reliance on an invalid factor. Because the Seventh Circuit's opinion did not reveal whether it made that harmless-error determination or affirmed solely on reasonableness, the Court vacated the judgment and remanded. Justice White, joined by Justice Kennedy, dissented, contending that departure sentences are reviewable only for reasonableness under § 3742(f)(2) and that the valid grounds justified the modest three-month departure.