A range of sentencing stories

Though all is calm and all is bright this holiday morning, the newspapers still have an array of sentencing stories that merit a quick post. (I also need a break from toy assembly.)  So here is some sentencing news of note:

• This story from Arizona reports on a state trial in a rape case which was bifurcated so that, a month after rendering a guilty verdict, a jury could consider Blakely aggravating factors.

• This story from Kansas details why the state's coming legislative debate  over capital punishment — which is necessary because of the Kansas Supreme Court's Marsh decision (discussed here, commentary here and here) — probably won't be limited to just fixing the procedural flaw that led the Court to strike down the state's death penalty law.  The report notes that the incoming state Senate leader "expects an attempt from opponents of capital punishment to scuttle the law, though such an effort is not expected to succeed."

• Finally, returning to the pardons story (covered here and here), the papers report that Governors in South Dakota and Vermont made this year an especially Merry Christmas for a few offenders.