Aggravating factors raising a sentence must be proven to a jury, not a judge.

Evidence

In Blakely v. Washington (2004), the U.S. Stirtins Court cast a shadow on the federal sentencing guidelines and on similar guidelines in other states. Citing defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury, the Court ruled that any aggravating factors used to increase a criminal sentence must be proven to a jury, not decided by a judge. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1918

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Sixth Amendment jury-trial right and Apprendi-line cases likely covered in the course’s constitutional criminal procedure unit. — connects to: Unclear capital sentencing instructions cause jurors dangerous confusion. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1999; Unintelligible sentencing instructions let jurors displace responsibility for death sentences — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1995; Jurors reframe capital sentencing as rules answering to avoid moral guilt — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2003
• DEFINE: Clarifies the jury-factfinding rule that reshaped sentencing guidelines in the mid-2000s.

Broader Connections

• Unclear capital sentencing instructions cause jurors dangerous confusion. #corroborates (1.00) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1999
• Unintelligible sentencing instructions let jurors displace responsibility for death sentences #corroborates (1.00) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1995
• Jurors reframe capital sentencing as rules answering to avoid moral guilt #corroborates (1.00) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2003