A November to remember

As if the post-Blakely world of sentencing has not been exciting enough, looking ahead there are reason to believe (and fear?) that November will be the best sentencing month ever. (Perhaps you can tell from my description that I am a big fan of Richard Scarry and all of his best ever books.)

Hyperbole aside, let me quickly detail just a few red letter dates in the month ahead:

Monday, November 1: A date predicted by some for the handing down of Booker and Fanfan.

Tuesday, November 2: An election which will likely impact, in many large and small ways, the personnel making sentencing law and policy decisions in the state and federal systems. In addition, Californians will vote on Proposition 66, the initiative to amend California’s Three Strikes Law (recently discussed here).

Monday, November 8: oral argument before the US Supreme Court in Shepard v. US, a case (discussed here) which might provide the Court a chance to speak to the continued validity and scope of the Appendi/Blakely “prior conviction” exception.

Tuesday/Wednesday, November 9-10: The Indiana Supreme Court and Washington Supreme Court hear arguments in major Blakely cases.

Tuesday, November 16: Judge Cassell’s scheduled “sentencing meeting” in US v. Angelos, the mandatory minimum sentencing case (discussed here and here) in which Judge Cassell asked for briefing on constitutional issues.

Tuesday/Wednesday, November 16-17: As noted here, the US Sentencing Commission plans for a public hearing which is likely to discuss Blakely (and Booker and Fanfan?). More details when available.

Before the end of November: I predict Booker and Fanfan will be handed down and the third Federal Sentencing Reporter issue on Blakely will go to press. (Details on earlier FSR Blakely issues can be found here and here.)