sentencing guidelines explained

Mark Allenbaugh gives a roundup of the sentencing guidelines cases that the Court handed down a couple days ago. The first ruling is unsuprising, after last term's Blakely. Facts that determine a defendant's sentence must be found by a jury. The second case, as Mr. Allenbaugh explains, is far less clear. It answers the question: if judicial factfinding is unconstitutional, what do we do with federal sentencing guidelines that call for such factfinding?

The Court ruled that the federal guidelines, rather than being defunct, are now voluntary rather than mandatory. Allenbaugh wonders how this will pan out in practice.