And the briefing begins…

I have on good authority that two amicus briefs have already been filed in Booker and Fanfan. One is reportedly on behalf of “an ad hoc group of former federal judges in support of neither party,” and the group apparently consists of 19 former judges. Unfortunately, I do not (yet) have an electronic copy of that brief.

I do have a copy linked below of the other brief, which is in support of the petitioner and comes from three noteworthy US Senators: The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch, The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy and The Honorable Dianne Feinstein. The brief’s statement of the question presented should give you a flavor for its contents:

Whether, or to what extent, the Court should give effect to the intent of Congress in enacting the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 to eliminate the intolerable disparities that had plagued the federal sentencing system by creating an integrated and cohesive sentencing guidelines system.

Download booker.senate.amicus.pdf

Though I have to dash to class and then a faculty meeting, I hope to have more information about all of today’s briefing (and also more documents for downloading) before the close of business today.

UPDATE: With thanks to many “field correspondents,” I now have and provide below the Solicitor General’s brief in Booker and Fanfan. More briefs will be posted if and when I get them, and commentary will be posted in the wee hours.
Download sgs_booker_and_fanfan_brief.pdf

MORE: With thanks to another “field correspondent,” I now have and provide below the USSC’s brief in Booker and Fanfan.
Download ussc_amicus_brief_booker_and_fanfan.pdf