Alaska’s Blakely fix is now law

Earlier this month I reported here on the bill in Alaska designed to bring the state’s sentencing system into compliance with Blakely.  This article indicates that Alaska’s Blakely fix became law on Tuesday. 

I believe the new sentencing law in Alaska expands sentencing ranges, but also provides for jury consideration of certain sentencing-enhancing aggravators.  Thus, it appears that Alaska has adopted, through legislation, a remedy for its sentencing system that involves a little bit of Booker-izing and a little bit of Blakely-izing.

UPDATE: Additional information about Alaska’s Blakely fix can be found in this press release, which also has links to the complete bill text and this fact sheet on the legislation.  The press release quotes one Alaska legislator as saying “The Blakely decision had the effect of throwing our entire criminal justice system into turmoil.”  And the fact sheet indicates that one aspect of the new legislation “[p]rovides a defendant the right to petition the Court of Appeals on grounds of excessiveness when a sentence is handed down within a range.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: The Anchorage Daily News has more coverage here, and the full text of the changes made by the new law are highlighted in this version of the new legislation.