Continued pitch for cert on an important Blakely issue

As detailed in this post, I am part of a team seeking cert in Faulks v. US, a case from the Fourth Circuit concerning the procedures for revoking supervised release.  Our initial petition is here, and earlier this month the government filed its brief in opposition (BIO).  A few days ago, we filed our reply to the government’s BIO.  These latest filings can be accessed here:

Download faulks_bio_from_government.pdf

Download final_faulks_reply.pdf

Though I am partial, I am genuinely convinced that the issues we have raised in Faulks need the Supreme Court’s attention ASAP.  If the Justices in the Blakely five (or the Cunningham six) are genuinely committed to its articulated Sixth Amendment doctrines and principles, the judge-centered procedures employed in federal supervised release revocation proceedings ought to be cause for significant constitutional concern (especially in a case with extreme facts like Faulks). 

As has been well documented in the SCOTUSblog stats, SCOTUS needs to grant cert in a bunch of new cases to fill its fall argument calender.  And the Court has not taken up any new Blakely issues in a while (although, of course, Claiborne and Rita might address Sixth Amendment issues).  I am hopeful we have a real shot with Faulks.