Remember Blakely in the states

Not surprisingly, the decision in Booker has started a dramatic and uncertain new federal chapter in the Blakely story. But, as I have suggested previously, the federal story after Booker is really just a relatively minor (headline-grabbing) solar system within a vast Blakely universe.  We should never forget that states handle over 90% of the criminal cases nationwide, and both Blakely and now Booker provide many more questions than answers for state actors and institutions.

And the state Blakely story keep chugging along after Booker.  (A full account of all my pre-Booker posts on Blakely in the states can be found here.)  For example, as documented in this article from Alaska, state legislatures are continuing to sort through possible modifications to conform their existing sentencing structures to Blakely.  And, as documented in this article from California, state courts are continuing to sort out the applicability of Blakely to current cases.

Notably, I already count more than 50 additional on-line state court Blakely rulings just since Booker was handed down last week, the most of course coming from California (which now has over 350 Blakely ruling to date and also wins the award for having the first on-line state court opinion to mention Booker.)