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Criminal Procedure
Apprendi v. New Jersey
Decided: 2000
In brief
Held that any fact increasing a criminal penalty beyond the statutory maximum must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Court's ruling in depth
The Court held that judges cannot impose sentences exceeding the statutory maximum based on facts they alone find. Apprendi restored the jury's constitutional role at sentencing and set off a decade-long revolution culminating in United States v. Booker (2005), which rendered the Federal Sentencing Guidelines advisory rather than mandatory.