What is Blakelys Impact on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines?
United States v. Booker Docket No. 04-104 From: The Seventh Circuit and United States v. Fanfan Docket No. 04-105 From: The United States District Court for the District of Maine Case at a Glance Last Term’s Blakely v. Washington caused great turmoil in the federal courts. In striking down a Washington state sentencing provision because the judge rather than the jury found the aggravating factors that could increase the length of the sentence, did the Court effectively render the federal Sentencing Guidelines unconstitutional, and if so, are the Guidelines altogether unconstitutional or can courts respond by simply “severing” the upward enhancement provisions and imposing just the sentences otherwise required by the Guidelines for particular offenses? • Previewed by Vikram David Amar, a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of Law in San Francisco.
