SENTENCING RULING COULD PROMPT MORE APPEALS HERE

Hundreds of felons in Alabama could seek new sentencing hearings in
the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on how criminal defendants are
punished, legal experts said Thursday.

The high court said Wednesday that federal judges are no longer bound
by mandatory federal sentencing guidelines when handing down
punishment. Instead, the court said, the complex formula used to
calculate sentences can be used to guide their decisions.

Some legal experts said they expect defendants who have not exhausted
appeals to file petitions challenging sentences, thinking the decision
could lead to shorter prison terms.

Jim Sturdivant, a former prosecutor and now a defense attorney, said
the fallout remains uncertain, but he thinks people who have been
sentenced will file for review.

"I think, as a practical matter, people who can afford lawyers, to
people who will be filing on scraps of paper, will be challenging
their sentence," Sturdivant said. "Anybody who has spent any time at
all in the state or federal system will tell you the concept of the
jailhouse lawyer is alive and well. I'm sure word is spreading like
wildfire through the federal prison system."

Birmingham lawyer J. Mark White, a critic of the guidelines, said he
intends to file resentencing requests next week for clients. White
said the clients did not have criminal records, posed no threat and
should not be incarcerated.

"The guidelines have been an atrocity since Day One," White
said.

John Lentine, a criminal defense lawyer, said the decision "deepens
the uncertainty of federal sentencing."

The sentencing guidelines, enacted by Congress 20 years ago to bring
uniformity to how criminals are punished, have been the source of
controversy. Federal judges across the state, in anticipation of the
Supreme Court ruling, had postponed some sentencings.

U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon, chief judge for northern Alabama,
said the high court's ruling restores to judges some, if not all,
traditional authority. "It has a tremendous impact," he said, because
it allows judges to hand down justice they think is appropriate in
each case.

Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney now in private practice, said the
ruling will create confusion because of different interpretations.

"It seems like this was a patchwork way to salvage the guidelines,"
Jones said.

Another expert said the ruling likely would complicate arguments
during sentencing. "You will see more sentencing hearings, more
drawn-out sentencings," said Cumberland Law School professor and
former prosecutor Don Cochran.

The lawyers were quick to warn the ruling does not automatically
provide "get out of jail free" cards. Judges can opt to keep sentences
the same.

"What a particular judge will do, I do not venture to say," Birmingham
lawyer Tommy Spina said.