Can the Kansas system work for the feds?

Because it’s late, readers will have to make up their own Wizard of Oz jokes as we consider the virtues of following the yellow brick road of sentencing reform to Kansas. The New York Times today has an article suggesting “Justices’ Sentencing Ruling May Have Model in Kansas.” In a similar vein, The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ (NACDL) has sent a letter to Senators Hatch and Leahy (available here thanks to our friends at TalkLeft), in which it is suggested that the Kansas approach of having a bifurcated trial to allow jury consideration of sentencing enhancements is the best way to give meaning to the constitutional rights announced in Blakely. I’ll be interested to hear if the Kansas approach gets discussed at any length during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing later today.