Intriguing Booker-free Gonzales comments and other DOJ news

As detailed in this New York Times story and this Washington Times story, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales delivered his first major policy speech on Monday at the Hoover Institution.  The full text of the speech can be found here, and I was intrigued to discover that the speech did not mention Booker or the federal sentencing guidelines either directly or indirectly.  (Recall that, as detailed here, a month ago out-going AG John Ashcroft gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation in which he criticized the Booker ruling and said Congress, in response to Booker, “should reinstitute tough sentences and certain justice for criminals.”)

Meanwhile, in other notable DOJ news spotlighted by this official press release, Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray of the Criminal Division officially tendered his resignation on Monday.  As head of the Criminal Division, Wray was a key player in the Blakely/Booker saga, and it is hard not to speculate about the possible impact this transition could have as DOJ formulates its post-Booker plans.

It has been a poorly-kept secret that there is an internal debate within DOJ about how to respond to Booker, though the buzz of late seemed to be that we could expect something official and consequential from DOJ within a matter of weeks.  I encourage readers to use the comments to suggest whether we should now read the DOJ tea leaves differently in light of Gonzales’ Booker silence and Wray’s departure.