We are not ready to cue the Munchkin chorus yet, but it's looking good for the demise of the proposed sentencing commission in California. As noted here, the proposed commission would have had power far beyond that given to, e.g., the federal sentencing commission. It would not have been limited to promulgating guidelines for judges to exercise their discretion within statutory limits, but instead it would have had a blank check to rewrite the limits. Jim Sanders reports for the SacBee:

Creation of an appointed commission to overhaul sentencing guidelines became a flashpoint Monday in negotiations to pass a crucial budget-cutting package for state prisons.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said she may sever the proposed sentencing commission from a wide-ranging package designed to complement gubernatorial actions in cutting $1.2 billion from prison spending.

Once the commission is in a stand-alone bill, it should go down in flames.

At SL&P, Doug Berman has this post, linking to this post at the LA Times.  The Times post misleadingly refers to the proposal as one to "reevaluate California's sentencing laws." If the commission were only a study group, there would have been minimal opposition. It is the use of the commission to politically insulate the legislature from decisions to repeal hard-won gains in tough sentencing that raises the opposition.