Miami vice?

I previous suggested that the decision by MD Fla. District Judge Gregory Presnell in US v. King (background here) — which concludes in a bold, provocative and well-reasoned opinion that after Blakely “the determinate scheme set up by the Guidelines violates the Constitution and can no longer be used in any case” — was the first major Blakely ruling from Florida. However, this article reports that a lot of Blakely activity has been transpiring in the Southern District of Florida.

The article first reports that on Monday US District Judge Donald L. Graham in Miami, ruling from the bench, “declared that part of the guidelines to be unconstitutional, meaning the ability to enhance a defendant’s sentence for certain unproven conduct.” The article thereafter sets forth this “partial scorecard of federal judicial actions in South Florida” (based in part on information from criminal defense attorneys):

US District Judges James Lawrence King in Miami, Jose A. Gonzalez Jr. in Fort Lauderdale and K. Michael Moore in Miami have stated that they will not enhance sentences absent a jury finding about any aggravating facts or proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In contrast, U.S. District Judges James I. Cohn and William P. Dimitrouleas, both in Fort Lauderdale, have held that Blakely does not apply to federal sentencing under the guidelines…. Meanwhile, Southern District Chief Judge Zloch and US District Judges Kenneth L. Ryskamp and Donald M. Middlebrooks in West Palm Beach have taken the creative approach of handing down alternative sentences — depending on whether the guidelines survive or not.