United States v. Collins Christensen

We review a district court’s sentencing decisions for abuse of discretion, thus affording district courts a substantial degree of deference. But, as we recently observed en banc, “[t]he abuse of discretion standard is deferential, but it does not mean anything goes.” United States v. Ressam, 679 F.3d 1069, 1087 (9th Cir.2012) (en banc). And, as the Supreme Court has observed in a related context, we should “not indulge [in] post hoc rationalization” of the sentencing court’s “decisionmaking that contradicts the available evidence .... ” Harrington v. Richter, — U.S. -, 131 S.Ct. 770, 790, 178…