Opinion ID: 2520113
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 31

Heading: The Kansas hard 50 sentencing procedure is constitutional.

Text: The defendant claims that K.S.A. 21-4635 et seq. is unconstitutional under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 147 L. Ed. 2d 435, 120 S. Ct. 2348 (2000). In Apprendi, the United States Supreme Court 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. 530 U.S. at 490. The defendant contends that the aggravating factors that increased his sentence from life without the possibility of parole for 25 years to life without the possibility of parole for 50 years are facts that should have been found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. In State v. Conley, 270 Kan. 18, 11 P.3d 1147 (2000), cert. denied 532 U.S. 932 (2001), this court upheld the Kansas hard 40 sentencing procedure. The court found that it was consistent with McMillan v. Pennsylvania, 477 U.S. 79, 83, 91 L. Ed. 2d 67, 106 S. Ct. 2411 (1986), which held that a sentencing factor which established a 5-year minimum sentence for felons who visibly possessed a firearm during the commission of the offense was constitutional because it neither provides for an increase in the maximum sentence for such felony nor authorizes a separate sentence. In State v. Douglas, 274 Kan. 96, 111 (2002), cert. denied 537 U.S. 1198 (2003), this court relied on its decision in Conley holding that the Kansas hard 50 sentencing scheme is constitutional. We reached the same result in State v. Boldridge, 274 Kan. 795, 57 P.3d 8, cert. denied 538 U.S. 950 (2003) (noting that defendant cited to Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 153 L. Ed. 2d 556, 122 S. Ct. 2428 [2002]). The defendant recognizes that the court has spoken on this issue, but asks the court to reconsider its opinion. It is clear, however, that the unanimous decisions in Conley, Douglas, and Boldridge were correctly decided and are controlling on this issue. Affirmed.