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June 21, 2005
AG Gonzales calls for a Booker fix
Last Tuesday when I was driving down to the Carolinas, Booker mania seized the circuit courts. Today, as I drove back, apparently Booker mania spread to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
On Tuesday, in a major policy speech delivered to a conference of the National Center for Victims of Crime, AG Gonzales stated that the "advisory guidelines system we currently have can and must be improved." He closed his speech by saying that he favored "the construction of a minimum guideline system." Gonzales further explained:
Under such a system, the sentencing court would be bound by the guidelines minimum, just as it was before the Booker decision. The guidelines maximum, however, would remain advisory, and the court would be bound to consider it, but not bound to adhere to it, just as it is today under Booker.
A copy of the full text of AG Gonzales' speech today advocating this Booker fix, along with a fact sheet put out by DOJ, can be downloaded below. The speech is also available at this link. I will have lots and lots of commentary on this major development after I have time to unpack.
Download gonzales_remarks_sentencing_guidelines_as_prepared.doc
June 21, 2005 at 10:13 PM | Permalink
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While most in the country have urged restraint in response to the Supreme Court's historic sentencing decisions in the Booker and FanFan cases, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today complained that judges are being too lenient now that the U.S. sente... [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 21, 2005 10:50:41 PM
