More Blakely in the headlines

Howard Bashman over at How Appealing has already effectively collected a whole lot of morning Blakely news here.

This article from the Houston Chronicle covers the federal story well, and it also reports that “interest [in Blakely] is so high in the legal community that at least five Web sites devoted to Blakely have sprung up in the past two weeks.” Similarly, this article from the Salt Lake Tribune and this article from the Belleville News-Democrat take a broader look at what Blakely could ultimately mean for federal sentencing.

This article from the Arizona Republic covers the Arizona state sentencing angle well, and it notes that “more than 98 percent of criminal cases in Maricopa County are settled by plea agreement [and prosecutors are hoping that] potential problems can be sidestepped by requiring defendants out front to waive their right to have a jury decide aggravating factors.” Similarly, this article from the Fayetteville Observer examines the impact of Blakely in for North Carolina state sentencing, and notes that “local defense lawyers and prosecutors had differing opinions about how the ruling would affect North Carolina’s courts.”