A December to remember

As if October and November weren't exciting enough (as detailed here and here and here), this month has had nearly a full year's worth of notable sentencing events.  Of course, this month is only half over and, among other coming events, tomorrow brings the top-side briefs in the Claiborne and Rita cases (background here).  Nevertheless, since some are already celebrating Festivus, I could not help doing a mid-month review of sentencing highlights:

LETHAL INJECTION DEVELOPMENTS AND COMMENTARY

• Major California ruling on lethal injection protocol
• Governor Jeb Bush orders moratorium after botched execution
• An ugly (and fitting?) end to the capital year
• Isn't it finally time for Congress to do something about lethal injection problems?
• Who will demonstrate lethal injection leadership?

OTHER DEATH PENALTY DEVELOPMENTS AND COMMENTARY

• Recapping the capital year
• All the death data
• Major capital ruling from en banc Fifth Circuit
• Crazy capital developments in two states
• Executions and clemency in Ohio

SUPREME COURT DEVELOPMENTS AND COMMENTARY

• At least another month until Cunningham
• Slow-poke SCOTUS: a sign of division?
• SCOTUS takes up three new criminal cases
• Solving the SCOTUS docket mystery
• Additional SCOTUS docket dissection
• Recapping the SCOTUS docket discussion

BOOKER DEVELOPMENTS AND COMMENTARY

• What wrong with equitable Booker retroactivity in the Ninth Circuit?
• Laughing all the way to the (en) banc after Booker
• Seventh Circuit upholds another large upward variance
• Eighth Circuit follows the herd on crack sentencing
• Ninth Circuit decides to punt reasonableness en banc
• What the latest USSC data reveal
• Shouldn't express statutory text trump perceived policy?

ALTERNATIVE SENTENCING DEVELOPMENTS AND COMMENTARY

• The virtues of faith-based prisons
• Another shame(ful?) sentencing example
• Opposition to Iowa's residency restrictions
• Is the future parole with GPS and other techno-reentry devices?