Just over nine months ago via this post, I set out a call for papers as part of plans to produce a new Federal Sentencing Reporter issue on “Booker at 20.” That post noted it was way back in January 2005 when the Supreme Court through its opinions in United States v. Booker ushered in a new era for federal sentencing. Through dueling 5-4 opinions concerning the application of the Sixth Amendment, Booker made the guidelines “effectively advisory,” rather than “mandatory.” The Court’s opinion invited Congress to rework federal sentencing in keeping with this ruling, but the Booker advisory guideline system has proved remarkably durable: while “mandatory” guidelines were operational for 16 years, we are now just days away from the 20th anniversary of Booker and the advisory guidelines it created.
Booker was handed down the morning of January 12, 2005, so its official 20th birthday will not be until this Sunday. But an opinion like Booker merits more than just a single day’s attention. So I am here starting a series of posts on the topic of “Booker at 20.” The full Federal Sentencing Reporter issue on this topic is to be published in the coming weeks, and I will be blogging about its contents when it is released. A few FSR authors for that issue have allowed me to post here some modified excerpts from their forthcoming articles. So look for those in the coming days.
In addition, I am eager in this space to highlight notable post-Booker data, rulings and scholarship and anything else that should be seen as standing the test of (sentencing) time. Because my curation of post-Booker developments and “greatest hits” will surely be warped by my particular parochial interests (as well as fading memories), I welcome and urge folks to flag items from the era of Booker sentencing that they think ought not be forgotten.