220
White, J., dissenting
plied properly and to provide case law development of the appropriate reasons for sentencing outside the guidelines." S. Report 151. Because the district court must state its reasons when departing, § 3553(c)(2), and because the appellate court must "state specific reasons" for concluding a departure sentence is unreasonable, § 3742(f)(2), case law development will proceed apace, creating a ready benchmark by which to determine whether the current offender has been dealt a sentence disparate from similar criminals found guilty of similar crimes.18 In sum, "while the reasonableness standard will be interpreted and defined by subsequent case law, the incorporation into this standard of the section 3553(b) departure test and the section 3553(a) sentencing factors provides specific content that will permit a broader judicial inquiry than otherwise would be warranted by a bare reasonableness standard alone." Wilkins, Sentencing Reform and Appellate Review, 46 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 429, 444 (1989) (footnote omitted).
In this case, the Seventh Circuit concluded that it was error for the District Court to consider prior arrests not resulting in conviction because no reliable evidence of the conduct described in the arrest entries indicated a more severe criminal history than the one provided by the Guidelines. 910 F. 2d 1574, 1580 (1990); see USSG § 4A1.3, p. s. The Court of Appeals correctly ruled, however, that "a sentence nevertheless may be upheld if there are proper factors that, standing alone, would justify the departure." 910 F. 2d, at 1580 (citing United States v. Franklin, 902 F. 2d 501, 508-509
18 The statements of reasons and development of case law will also permit the Sentencing Commission to "adequately consider" those factors leading to departures, ultimately resulting in less need for departures overall. See S. Report 151; USSG § 1A4(b), p. s. ("By monitoring when courts depart from the guidelines and by analyzing their stated reasons for doing so and court decisions with references thereto, the Commission, over time, will be able to refine the guidelines to specify more precisely when departures should and should not be permitted").
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