More Booker and Fanfan speculation

Over at SCOTUS Blog, Tom Goldstein here builds on Marty Lederman’s speculation about what a question asked by Justice Ginsburg at oral argument yesterday might tell us about the eagerly anticipated Booker and Fanfan.  As I noted here, the Ginsburg question prompted Marty to suggest we might not see a decision until at least January. 

Interestingly, Tom is not convinced the Ginsburg question hints at a long wait for the Booker and Fanfan opinion.  But Tom thinks the question “does suggest (albeit certainly not decisively) … that the government lost Booker/Fanfan.”  This speculation dovetails with my own prognosticating here that the time it is taking for the Court issue an opinion is a sign that the Justices have decided to apply Blakely to the federal system but are struggling with the severability issue.