Fantastic reading around the blogsphere

Evenings like tonight, when I see a remarkable number of remarkable posts on remarkable sentencing developments, I wonder how we ever lived without the blogsphere.  Here are some must-reads:

• At SCOTUSblog, Lyle Denniston in this post provides wonderful background on the major AEDPA case in the Ninth Circuit that How Appealing first flagged here and that I discuss here.  Mike at Crime & Federalism adds his thoughts on the case here.  (Back at SCOTUSblog, Lyle also has this terrific post about the coming sentencing of Zacarias Moussaoui.)

• At the Second Circuit Blog, Yuanchung Lee in this post further analyzes the Second Circuit's recent Gonzales decision, which I discussed at length here.  He concludes that the "most logical reading of this case, then, is that while the district court has the 'authority' to use the preponderance standard to resolve sentencing disputes, it also has the authority to use the higher, beyond a reasonable doubt standard."

• At TalkLeft, TChris in this post assails the drug sentencing provisions of HR 1528, and also links to this LA Times editorial which astutely recognizes that the "cynically titled Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005 does little to push drug treatment but could do much to harm children."

• At Crime & Federalism, Norm Pattis has this potent post on the Michael Ross case and this potent post on the bill in to bring back the death penalty in Massachusetts.