In other important sentencing news

As is obvious to all readers, the Booker story and the past, present and future of federal sentencing has now fully consumed me and this blog.  And, as suggested by this calender, these hearings, and all the circuit court and district court action, the Booker story seems unlikely to calm down anytime soon.

But, critically, there is a lot more to sentencing law and policy than just Booker.  Of course, there is the on-going Blakely in the states story, about which I hope to post some news later this weekend.  Moreover, there are so many issues of concern that have nothing to do with Blakely or Booker.

Fortunately, others do a great job covering important sentencing issues while Booker-mania rages on.  For example, TalkLeft has a great post on drug sentencing issues entitled Drug Courts: Yes. Mandatory Minimums: No.  And the Death Penalty Information Center always has highlights from important capital sentencing developments here.

And, meriting a special shout-out, Grits for Breakfast continues to do a masterful job covering law and policy developments surrounding Texas’s on-going struggle with its prison overcrowding problems, as detailed in amazing posts here and here and here.  I am particularly fond of the conclusion that the developments in Texas provide “more evidence of Berman’s observation here that a ‘new right’ may be developing on criminal justice reform.”