Happy Booker half-birthday!

Though not quite as exciting as celebrating Blakely‘s birthday, I cannot help but note that today marks the six-month anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Booker making the federal guidelines advisory.  As I noted yesterday in this post, I am hoping the US Sentencing Commission, which today should be wrapping up the National Sentencing Policy Institute in Washington DC, might honor the day by releasing updated post-Booker data on this page.

One way Booker fans awaiting new data might celebrate Booker‘s half-birthday is by looking back at some of the initial Booker commentaries linked in this post — along with the hundreds of comments from readers (which were often substantial, always insightful, and sometimes truly brilliant) — that raised important questions about the meaning of the decision right after Booker was handed down.  It is amazing, and perhaps depressing but not really surprising, that very few (none?) of the big questions Booker raises have been effectively resolved six months later.