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December 29, 2005

Blakely at 18 months: a recap of state high court rulings

To celebrate the 18-month anniversary of the Blakely decision (which was this past Saturday), I have updated my list of chief state Supreme Court rulings on Blakely's applicability to particular state sentencing systems.  Dividing the rulings by whether Blakely was applied or dodged, we now have:

STATE HIGH COURT RULINGS FINDING BLAKELY IMPACTING STATE SENTENCING

Arizona: The Blakely earthquake hits Arizona, reporting on State v. Brown (Ariz. Oct. 27, 2004).

Colorado: Colorado Supreme Court applies Blakely!, reporting on Lopez v. People (Colo. May 23, 2005).

Indiana: The Indiana Supreme Court speaks on Blakely!, reporting on Smylie v. Indiana (Ind. Mar. 9, 2005).

Maine: Big Blakely rulings from the ends of the Union, reporting on State v. Schofield (Maine June 29, 2005).

Minnesota: Minnesota Supreme Court orders Blakely briefing, reporting on Minnesota v. Shattuck (Minn. Dec. 16, 2004).   UPDATE: A number of hawk-eyed readers rightly reminded me that I should have listed here the main follow-up decision in Shattuck: Minnesota Supreme Court finishes up some important Blakely work, reporting on State v. Shattuck (Minn. Aug 18, 2005), amended (Oct. 6, 2005).

New Jersey: New Jersey applies Blakely (and Booker?), reporting on State v. Natale (N.J. Aug. 2, 2005).

North Carolina: Huge Blakely day in North Carolina, reporting on State v. Allen (N.C. July 1, 2005).

Oregon: Oregon Supreme Court decides Dilts (and ducks issues), reporting on Oregon v. Dilts (Or. Dec. 16, 2004).

Washington: Big Blakely doings from where it all started, reporting on Washington v. Hughes (Wash. Apr. 14, 2005).

Vermont: The Blakely earthquake hits Vermont, reporting on State v. Provost (Vt. Dec. 23, 2005)

STATE HIGH COURT RULINGS FINDING BLAKELY NOT IMPACTING STATE SENTENCING

California: California Supreme Court dodges Blakely, reporting on People v. Black (Cal. June 20, 2005).

Delaware: Nationwide Blakely developments in the states, reporting on Fuller v. State (Del. Oct. 29, 2004); see also Benge v. State (Del. Nov. 12, 2004).

Hawaii: Big Blakely rulings from the ends of the Union, reporting on Hawaii v. Maugaotega (Hawaii June 29, 2005).

Idaho: Blakely not a problem in Idaho, reporting on Idaho v. Stover (Idaho Jan. 6, 2005).

New Mexico: New Mexico Supreme Court deepens state split over Blakely, reporting on New Mexico v. Lopez (N.M. Oct. 14, 2005).

New York: New York's highest court upholds state's felony offender law!, reporting on People v. Rivera (N.Y. June 9, 2005).

Tennessee: Tennessee dodges Blakely, so says divided state supreme court, reporting on Tennessee v. Gomez (Tenn. Apr. 15, 2005).

In addition to these 17 rulings, major Blakely cases have been handed down in Alaska by its intermediate court (see here and here), and leading cases are still in the works in Michigan and Ohio.  There may be significant on-going Blakely litigation in a number of other states as well.

I suspect that the stories of Booker in the federal system will continue to capture most of the headlines (and scholarly commentary), especially as we approach the one-year anniversary of the Booker decision.  Nevertheless, as evidenced by the recent FSR issue on Blakely in the States, the dynamic state Blakely developments is really the most interesting on-going sentencing story.  And, for that reason, I am pleased to be playing a role in a future issue of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law that is to be focused on Blakely in the states.

December 29, 2005 at 04:30 PM | Permalink

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