The following excerpt is from United States v. Kourani, 19-4292-cr (2nd Cir. 2021):
[42] Cavera, 550 F.3d at 189 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also United States v. Young, 811 F.3d 592, 598-99 (2d Cir. 2016) ("In reviewing the substantive reasonableness of a sentence, [the appellate court must] take into account the totality of the circumstances, giving due deference to the sentencing judge's exercise of discretion, and bearing in mind the institutional advantages of district courts." (internal quotations marks omitted)); United States v. Hsu, 669 F.3d 112, 120 (2d Cir. 2012) ("We review substantive challenges to a sentence under a 'deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.'" (quoting Cavera, 550 F.3d at 189)).
[43] United States v. Rigas, 583 F.3d 108, 124 (2d Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). Put another way, substantive unreasonableness "provide[s] a backstop for those few cases that, although procedurally correct, would nonetheless damage the administration of justice because the sentence imposed was shockingly high, shockingly low, or otherwise unsupportable as a matter of law." Id. at 123.
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