More on FSR issue on Claiborne and Rita
As detailed here, the Federal Sentencing Reporter‘s latest issue, entitled “Claiborne & Rita: Reasonableness Review in the Supreme Court,” is focused on the two post-Booker cases now pending before the Court. The issue has now gone to press and will be available on-line here before long. My Editor’s Observations, which I have made available for downloading below, previews some of the issue’s themes. Here is a snippet:
This Issue of FSR … seeks to provide both context and concepts for understanding the federal sentencing realities that may have prompted the Claiborne and Rita cert grants and that may impact the Court’s decisions. The articles in this Issue, some of which directly address federal sentencing realities in Booker‘s wake and some of which address broader issues concerning the operation of guideline systems, provide varied perspectives on whether and how Claiborne and Rita could impact the current state and future direction of post-Booker federal sentencing.
The information, insights, and ideas in the articles that follow are not readily summarized. But all the pieces point to two broad themes that have potentially profound implications not only for Claiborne and Rita but also for the future of all structured sentencing efforts. One theme, which is most prominent in the articles by Professor Frank Bowman and Judge Nancy Gertner, is the difficulty of integrating the Supreme Court’s Sixth Amendment jurisprudence and a judge-centered sentencing system. The other theme, which is particularly prominent in other articles in this Issue, is the difficulty of integrating formal sentencing doctrines and practical sentencing dynamics.