Questions as we branch out

I will have a lot to say in a series of posts about the Blakely work of each of the branches on Wednesday. But a few questions jumped to mind as I was reviewing the day’s events:

1. What is the shortest period of time between a Supreme Court decision and the filing of a cert. petition in a subsequent case by the United States seeking clarification of the decision’s meaning or reach? The SG’s filings on Wednesday came only 27 days after Blakely was handed down. Is that some kind of a record? Where’s the SCOTUS version of Tim Kurkjian when I need him?

2. How often does Congress pass joint resolutions and have they ever had any consequential legal impact? More specifically, has Congress ever previously passed a resolution to tell another branch of the federal government to do its job more quickly?