JUSTICES TO SORT OUT CLASH ON SENTENCING

Confusion Over Judges' Authority Has Had Unusually Swift Reaction

WASHINGTON - Reacting to what has been a summer of chaos in lower
courts, the Supreme Court said Monday that it will clarify whether a
June ruling that bars judges from unilaterally increasing jail terms
might render current federal sentencing guidelines unconstitutional.

The justices will hear two cases Oct. 4, the first day of their new
term, that address the fallout from Blakely vs. Washington, a
bombshell ruling from the last days of their previous term.

In Blakely, the justices ruled 5-4 that the Sixth Amendment requires
juries, not judges, to examine and agree upon the facts that might add
years to prison terms for convicted criminals.

But federal sentencing guidelines endow judges with enormous power to
increase prison time. So the decision has sent uncertainty shooting
through judges' chambers across the country.

Typically, Supreme Court rulings rebound around lower courts for years
before their impact is fully understood, or before judges and lawyers
decide to ask the high court to revisit an issue. But Blakely has
caused an unusually swift reaction.

In less than three months, scores of federal judges have concluded
that the ruling forces them to dramatically lower sentences. Dozens
have gone further, declaring the federal guidelines unconstitutional
in light of Blakely. Three of the nation's 12 circuit courts of
appeals have agreed with those conclusions.

Nearly everyone has asked the high court to give more specific
guidance quickly to courts about what Blakely means.

"It has been a whirlwind," said Doug Berman, an Ohio State
University law professor who's been tracking the issue on a Web site
called Sentencing and Law Policy. "I certainly don't know about any
decision the justices have agreed to reconsider this fast. But there
are a lot of important questions they left unanswered, and they've got
to answer them."

Citing the swiftness of the developing chaos, the Justice Department
asked the high court last month to hear expedited appeals from two
Blakely-related cases. In one, a cocaine supplier in Maine facing a
20-year sentence got only six years because the judge said Blakely
prevented him from considering the defendant's criminal history or his
role as a leader in a criminal organization.