| Court: | US Supreme Court |
| Facts: | Booker is charged with possession with intent to distribute 50g Cocaine. The judge sentence him using an additional 566g. Fanfan gets the sme kind of treatment but with even heavier weights. |
| Posture: | Conflict about whether or not this conforms with Apprendi and Blakely. |
| Issue: | Did these applications of the federal sentencing guidelines violate the sixth amendment. |
| Holding: | Yes, it does. Affirmed. |
| Rule: | The 6th Amendment, as construed in Blakely does apply to the sentencing guidelines. The clauses making the guidelines mandatory must be struck. |
| Reasoning: | Congress wants more uniformity in sentencing, and they wanted it to be mandatory. It can't be, however, because of Apprendi and Blakely. The sentences for Booker and Fanfan are invalid under those rulings, so we must construe the statute in light of this ruling. |
| Dicta: | Obviously, not every sentence will get appealed, and not every sentence under the guidelines is violative. |