Opinion ID: 2731239
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Apprendi and Alleyne

Text: Apprendi arose in the context of New Jersey’s hate crime law, N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:44-3(e). That law permitted judges to increase a defendant’s maximum sentence based upon a factual finding by a preponderance of the evidence that a crime was committed for the purpose of intimidating the victim based upon race. Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 468-69. Apprendi was sentenced to twelve years’ imprisonment after the trial judge increased his statutory maximum term from ten to twenty years pursuant to the hate crime statute. Id. at 47071. The Supreme Court determined that such an increase was unconstitutional and held that “[o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 490. In arriving at its conclusion, the Court rejected the distinction between an element of a crime and a sentencing factor that increased the potential maximum sentence. Id. at 478-81. According to the Court, both types of facts are subject to the same constitutional protections. Id. at 490. Thirteen years later, the Supreme Court addressed the corollary issue to that presented in Apprendi; that is, the appropriate standard of proof for facts that increase the statutory mandatory minimum penalty. The defendant in Alleyne was charged with, among other crimes, using or carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of § 924(c)(1)(A). 133 S. Ct. at 2155. At trial, the 7 jury convicted Alleyne of using or carrying a firearm, but made no finding regarding whether the firearm was brandished. Id. at 2156. The District Court nevertheless found that Alleyne brandished the firearm by a preponderance of the evidence—as was the practice at that time—thus triggering the seven-year mandatory minimum sentence in § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii). Id. The Alleyne Court extended the logic from Apprendi to include those facts that increase the statutory minimum. Alleyne, 133 S. Ct. at 2160 (“While Harris [v. United States, 536 U.S. 545 (2002)] limited Apprendi to facts increasing the statutory maximum, the principle applied in Apprendi applies with equal force to facts increasing the mandatory minimum.”). Just as the facts at issue in Apprendi created a new penalty by increasing the statutory ceiling, so too did the facts in Alleyne that increased the floor. Id. The Court thus held “that facts that increase mandatory minimum sentences must be submitted to the jury” and found beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 2163. Both Apprendi and Alleyne are watershed decisions that continue to have a substantial impact on sentencing law, as will be discussed below.