A First Monday Whopper

While I was on my way to Cleveland to see Marillion in concert, the U.S. Supreme Court hearing extended oral arguments about the future of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Over the course of two hours (covering two cases addressing the same issue), the Court hammered on several attorneys looking for answers. The Washington Post has a pretty comprehensive rundown of the action, while over at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick has a different perspective on the proceedings. The general consensus seems to be that (1) the Blakely majority will hold together and apply its holding to the Guidelines and (2) regardless of what sentencing looks like after the Court's decision, Congress will have something to say about it. The real speculation now is on just what the Court will tell lower courts to do with Blakely-ize Guidelines. Hopefully, we'll have a decision by early November.

PS: CNN.com has a really excellent interactive graphic explaining how the Guidelines work, for the uninitiated.