Indiana’s Blakely fix is now law

Michael Ausbrook at INCourts is reporting here that Indiana’s Blakely fix legislation, known as Senate Bill 96 while in development, has become law.  As I explained in this prior post, though the state was once headed toward Blakely-izing its sentencing scheme, I believe the enacted version of Senate Bill 96 Booker-izes Indiana’s sentencing statutes by making them advisory.  Michael Ausbrook in this post explores the possible impact of Indiana’s new legislation on sentencing appeals, and he reports that a “lawyer who knows a great deal about Blakely in Indiana has said that Senate Bill 96 will set criminal law in Indiana back decades.”