And now from the business desk…

Today has proven to be a big day in the business crimes arena, and I cannot help but look at everything through the lens of Blakely. First, I wonder if anyone has had a chance to review the Ken Lay indictment to see if it is “Blakely-friendly.” (As the Blakely Blog reports, Professor John Coffee this morning on NPR had to explain the chaos created Blakely when asked about Lay’s possible sentence.) Second, Marcia Oddi at the Indiana Law Blog sensibly askes “Will Blakely impact Martha Stewart sentencing?”

Finally, in a related story which could get overlooked in the Blakely mania, the AP reported late yesterday that President Bush issued full pardons in two fraud cases from Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Here’s a link to the brief report, which says that these pardons are the 18th and 19th of Bush’s presidency. The newly pardoned are Craven Wilford McLemore of Oklahoma, who served six months in prison, 18 months probation and was fined $10,000 in February 1983 for a fraud conspiracy conviction, and Anthony John Curreri of Wisconsin, who was sentenced to three years’ probation for mail fraud in March 1976. Anyone know anything more about these cases or offenders or why these pardons were granted now?

UPDATE: As discussed in this Newsday article, Martha Stewart’s lawyers moved, citing Blakely, to have U.S. District Court Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum declare the federal sentencing guidelines unconstitutional. The article asserts that, if granted, “the motion could mean that Cedarbaum would have more discretion in deciding a prison sentence that is substantially less than the current estimated range of 10 to 16 months and instead impose a term of as little as probation.”