Confusion May Be Its Epitaph

It's been a while since I blogged about Blakely and its impact in federal court. Almost three weeks later, it's safe to say that no one really has a good handle on where this is going. Slate.com summarizes the current situation pretty well. The Circuit Courts of Appeals have begun to get involved, with two coming to opposite conclusions as to Blakely's impact on the Guidelines. Another Circuit has, somewhat out of the blue, invoked a rarely-used procedure to present the question directly to the Supreme Court.

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee had a hearing on the issue, most of which I managed to see. The Committee members seemed eager to so something, viewing the current situation as a "crisis." Most of those testifying, on the other hand, urged caution and argued that, while things are a bit uncertain, the courts are dealing with the matter just as they do any Supreme Court directive. I'll admit, that rings a little hollow coming from a district court judge who just explained how the four judges in his district have come to four different resolutions of the issue.

As for options, The New York Times reports on the Kansas system of bifurcated trials and ponders whether that system would fly in federal court.