Blakely‘s (lack of) impact in Pennsylvania

Sylvester Stallone through the character Rocky Balboa taught us that Pennsylvanians know how to take a punch. Additional evidence can be found in this op-ed about the status of Pennsylvania’s guidelines in the wake of Blakely. The piece is co-authored by Steven L. Chanenson, Villanova law professor, Federal Sentencing Reporter editor, and member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, and State Rep. Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont and chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing. It explains:

[The] U.S. Supreme Court delivered a legal haymaker that has sent the criminal sentencing world reeling…. Various commentators have warned that the Blakely decision will call into question thousands of criminal sentences…. Although Blakely packs the punch of a heavyweight champ for the federal system and many state sentencing systems, it barely laid a glove on Pennsylvania’s guidelines….

[Pennsylvania’s] guidelines limit the judge’s discretion only concerning the minimum sentence. Pennsylvania’s guidelines say nothing about the maximum sentence, which can be as high as the statutory maximum. Pennsylvania judges, unlike federal judges, are not required to find facts in order to increase a defendant’s maximum sentence. So the Pennsylvania system provides needed sentencing guidance while largely avoiding the problems the Supreme Court discussed….

While the Supreme Court has left some criminal justice systems dazed and their sentencing guidelines in danger of collapse, the Pennsylvania guidelines remain standing.