Big Blakely Doin's

Today brought a few major developments in the continuing saga of Blakely and the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. First, for a bit of background, consider this article from Sunday's Boston Globe that ponders the unique situation of Justice Breyer. Breyer was in the forefront of the push for guidelines in the 1980s and was part of the initial U.S. Sentencing Commission that drafted the Guidelines. He is now in the position of trying to salvage what is left of his creation or, as one of my coworkers put it, watch the last 20 years of his life go up in smoke.

Breyer will get his chance on October 4, when the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases in which the United States petitioned for cert. Those two cases, Booker and Fanfan (yes yes!), should allow the Court to settle the issue of whether the Guidelines survive Blakely once and for all (which seems like a forgone conclusion at this point) and, more importantly, how sentencing will take place in a post-Guideline world.

Finally, the Fourth Circuit heard en banc oral argument this morning in US v. Hammoud, their hand selected case to decide the Blakely issue. According to early reports, the court may hold off and wait to see what the Supremes do. While I can see some wisdom to that approach, I hope the Fourth makes a decision on its own. Even if it's wrong. Sentencings are backing up in my district as the judges await some guidance from above. Please give it to them. I'll be sure and tell them if they get it wrong.