United States v. Thornton, 846 F.3d 1110 (10th Cir. Jan. 20, 2017)

Thornton appealed a district court’s decision basing the length of Thornton’s sentence, in part, on the treatment and vocational services he would receive in jail.  The Tenth Circuit held that the district court erred by improperly relying on the availability of in-custody rehabilitation as a justification for the denial of a downward variance, in violation of clearly established precedent forbidding judges from using imprisonment as a means to promote correction or rehabilitation.