A Tennessee view on the state Blakely mess

I recently documented in this post the dramatic divergence of opinions that has developed on the application of Blakely in those states with some form of presumptive sentencing.  This divergence first started to emerge when, as detailed here, the Tennessee Supreme Court found Blakely inapplicable to Tennessee's sentencing scheme in State v. Gomez (a ruling which, as detailed here, seemed to rest on a Booker-influenced misunderstanding of Apprendi and Blakely).  Now Nashville attorney David Raybin, who has been integrally involved in Tennessee Blakely developments, has authored an article urging the US Supreme Court to take up the Gomez case.

Raybin's article will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter and is entitled "The Anticipated Resolution of the Blakley State Court Split of Authority: Will the United States Supreme Court Dance the Tennessee Waltz?". The article is available for downloading below, and here is its introduction:

Does United States v. Booker actually trump Blakely v. Washington?  This question has been given a national forum because the practical effect of the Blakley decision was to require each state to assess whether its statutory scheme passed constitutional muster.  It is an understatement to say that the results of the inquiry are certainly mixed.

This Article addresses the ensuing, significant national split of authority fostered by the state courts, in part, by fundamentally misunderstanding the subsequent Booker case.  The Supreme Court has the opportunity to resolve this split by agreeing to dance with the Tennessee Supreme Court's opinion in State v. Gomez which represents the minority view suggesting that Booker does indeed trump Blakely.

Download raybin_fsr_on_gomez.pdf