Doug Berman's Sentencing Law Resources: Blakely in the States

Though the spectacle of federal sentencing chaos captured most of the newspaper headlines and academic attention in the wake of the Blakely decision, the profound impact that the decision could have on state sentencing systems may be truly the most important aftershocks to monitor. The fate of sentencing reform in the states is quite important because more than 90 percent of all criminal convictions are in state courts; it is also quite dynamic because state sentencing structures are diverse and will be impacted by Blakely in very different ways.

Within months of the Blakely decision, Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Ohio, and Tennessee all had major court rulings, which suggested that these states and perhaps many others might have to significantly restructure their sentencing systems after Blakely. Because perhaps as many as two dozen state sentencing systems are significantly impacted by Blakely, we can expect to see major responses to Blakely from state courts, state legislatures, and state sentencing commissions in the months and years ahead.

State Pages

Topics Broken Down by States

• General Information
• Blakely Error
• The Offense/Offender Distinction
• Consecutive Sentencing
• Prior Convictions
• Waiver