The Sentencing Commission (Finally) Notices Blakely

After many months of conspicuous near-silence, the U.S. Sentencing Commission spent two days this week in hearings about the future of the Guidelines in a post-Blakely world. It sounds like the Commission heard a bit of well-reasoned testimony and ideas for what might happen next. Hopefully, it will dance right past the flawed DOJ "topless" solution and make some fundamental changes in federal sentencing. One correction to that article, however - Judge Cassell's decision from Utah yesterday didn't deal with a Guideline sentence, but rather with what many people see as the worst-case scenario post-Blakely, mandatory minimums.