Data, data, data, data, data....

I am back home after having participated Friday in the Houston Law Center's terrific event, "The Booker Project : The Future of Federal Sentencing."  The event was as great as I expected, with the presenters and commentators all providing fantastic and thought-provoking insights. 

There were too many Houston highlights to summarize (although Nancy King certainly had the best line when, after suggesting Booker reasonableness review might help control disparity, she urged Congress to "give reas. a chance").  One consistent theme throughout was that more data and more detailed data from the US Sentencing Commission is needed to fully assess Booker's impact and the state of the post-Booker world.

USSC Chair Judge Hinojosa and other USSC staff were at the Houston conference, and they clearly got the data message.  Indeed, I know the USSC is working hard to disseminate (pre-Booker) sentencing data from FY 2004 before the end of this year. I am hopeful we might also soon thereafter start seeing at least some of the information highlighted on my Booker data wish list.

Since the USSC is listening to requests for data, perhaps readers might use the comments to specify particular data items that seem most important for assessing the post-Booker world.