July 13, 2004
Run On Sentencing
For all the other geeks out there who can't get enough of the Blakely sentencing guideline carnival, Professor Berman's blog is the best resource I've found for the latest developments. Stay tuned because the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet in a few hours to discuss the current upheaval.
Quick Recap: At least six District Courts (I've lost count) have declared the federal guidelines unconstitutional; one Circuit (7th) declared the Guidelines unconstitutional, another Circuit (5th) upheld them, and another (2nd) dodged the issue by certifying three questions to the Supreme Court for guidance.
In the small corner of federal jurisprudence where I spend my days, we had a "guilty" verdict yesterday and the Judge was prepared to have the jury reconvene to separately decide sentencing enhancements, but the prosecution was ill-prepared and could not point to the specific guidelines at issue. As such, sentencing will proceed (pending DOJ appeal) without any enhancements.
Quick Recap: At least six District Courts (I've lost count) have declared the federal guidelines unconstitutional; one Circuit (7th) declared the Guidelines unconstitutional, another Circuit (5th) upheld them, and another (2nd) dodged the issue by certifying three questions to the Supreme Court for guidance.
In the small corner of federal jurisprudence where I spend my days, we had a "guilty" verdict yesterday and the Judge was prepared to have the jury reconvene to separately decide sentencing enhancements, but the prosecution was ill-prepared and could not point to the specific guidelines at issue. As such, sentencing will proceed (pending DOJ appeal) without any enhancements.
