Monday, July 19, 2004 11:31 AM
An exciting story in the Marketplace section of the
Wall Street Journal today highlights Professor Douglas Berman's
Sentencing Law & Policy blawg. Exciting, because the story not only notes that Professor Berman's blawg has become a go-to resource for information related to the recent Blakely v. Washington case, but that the blawg itself was cited in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Further, the article offers an interesting hint of the future, when it compares the speed at which Professor Berman (and blawgs as medium itself) can get information to the web versus traditional legal publications and paid research services.
The ramifications of Blakely are such that criminal lawyers across the country are actively seeking information and opinions on the case and how it could affect their clients and/or cases. The Journal article indicates that Professor Berman is receiving a large volume of email from myriad sources, including families of prisoners sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Through his blawg, Professor Berman has quickly become a name well known in circles concerned with the Blakely case. Indeed, this may be one of the more perfect examples of the power of blawgs as a communication medium, and perhaps an indicator of blawgs longer term viability.
Last week, I mentioned the Blakely Blog as a great resource for information related to the Blakely decision. After reading the Journal's article today, it is pretty clear I missed out on another great resource on the case, Sentencing Law & Policy.
Postscript: The Journal added the article in its "free" section: Link to article.