Lacking knowledge of legal/constitutional affairs, I am not sure if this decision is significant, though I suspect it is:
"Washington -- The Supreme Court transformed federal criminal sentencing on Wednesday by restoring to judges much of the discretion that Congress took away nearly 20 years ago when it enacted sentencing guidelines and told judges to follow them.
The guidelines, intended to make sentences more uniform, should be treated as merely advisory to cure a constitutional deficiency in the system, the court held in an unusual two-part decision produced by two coalitions of justices."
It seems as though mandatory sentences would help curb judges who tend to give lighter sentences. There is much debate as to how much severe sentences effect crime rates. I would think that it would. I think that harsher pentalties for smaller crimes would be a deterrennt. I think it is good that the ultimate decision on sentencing would come from laws, not the judges. I will look to see if the brilliant legal minds at Powerline and Instapundit weigh in on this issue.
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