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March 12, 2005
An Invitation from Justice Thomas...
Almendarez-Torrez v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998) is now officially on the chopping-block. Justice Thomas writes in Shepard v. United States: “Almendarez-Torres, like Taylor, has been eroded by this Court’s subsequent Sixth Amendment jurisprudence, and a majority of the Court now recognizes that Almendarez-Torres was wrongly decided. See 523 U.S., at 248-249 (SCALIA, J., joined by STEVENS, SOUTER, and GINSBURG, JJ., dissenting); Apprendi, supra, at 520-521 (THOMAS, J., concurring). The parties do not request it here, but in an appropriate case, this Court should consider Almendarez-Torres’ continuing viability. Innumerable criminal defendants have been unconstitutionally sentenced under the flawed rule of Almendarez-Torres, despite the fundamental “imperative that the Court maintain absolute fidelity to the protections of the individual afforded by the notice, trial by jury, and beyond-a-reasonable-doubt requirements.” Harris v. United States, 536 U.S. 545, 581-582 (2002) (THOMAS, J., dissenting).”
The question is how long will it take for a challenge to Almendarez-Torres to work its way up to the Supreme Court.
Posted by Tim Warriner at 08:41 AM