A lot more interesting sentencing news

Though my mind is still racing with questions concerning AG Alberto Gonzales'  speech advocating a Booker fix in the form of "the construction of a minimum guideline system" (basics here and background here), I also see a lot of other interesting sentencing stories making headlines:

• As detailed in news reports here and here, "a federal jury on Tuesday recommended the death penalty for a woman convicted of helping her boyfriend kill five people in 1993 in an attempt to thwart a drug investigation."  Though many appeals will surely follow, defendant Angela Johnson could be on the path to being the first woman executed by the US government since 1953.

• As discussed in this article, the Second Circuit has an en banc hearing in a set of major felon disenfranchisement cases today.  Happy Fun Lawyer at Appellate Law & Practice is covering the case very thoroughly.

• Articles here and here provide move coverage of the California Supreme Court's big Blakely dodge in Black (basics here, commentary here).