Upcoming sentencing conferences

I am pleased to be able to report that academic examination of sentencing law and policy continues apace with a number of major conferences in the coming weeks and months.  Though Blakely is fueling some of this activity, the scope of these events are appropriately expansive to cover many other important issues.

Next week, for example, on November 12-13, the University of Chicago Legal Forum's Annual Symposium is dedicated to "Punishment and Crime."  Details about the event can be found here, where you will see I have the honor of serving as the Keynote Speaker.  The working title of my talk is "Conceptualizing Sentencing," and I plan to discuss in broader terms some of the concepts I started to developed in my recent "Conceptualizing Blakely" article.  N.B.: I now have the early proofs of that article, which can be downloaded here: Download early_proof_of_conceptualizing_blakely.pdf

And, as Jason Hernandez first reported here, the Columbia Law Review has planned for January a symposium entitled "Sentencing: What’s at Stake for the States?". Like the University of Chicago event, this Columbia conference brings together an amazing and diverse array of academic speakers. You can get all the official details here.

I highly encourage others planning or attending events on any topic of sentencing law and policy to send me information and links (and/or put the details in the comments). As noted here, the week after Blakely was decided, Judge Joe Goodwin stressed how important it is for the "the academic community ... to make [our] views known to the judiciary, the Congress and the executive," and I hope this medium might assist in that effort.

UPDATE: A thoughtful readers sent in this link to a Blakely program tomorrow morning being put on by the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey.