(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2008 1
Syllabus
NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is
being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued.
The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been
prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
OREGON v. ICE
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF OREGON
No. 07–901. Argued October 14, 2008—Decided January 14, 2009
Respondent Ice twice entered an 11-year-old girl’s residence and sexu
ally assaulted her. For each of the incidents, an Oregon jury found
Ice guilty of first-degree burglary for entering with the intent to
commit sexual abuse; first-degree sexual assault for touching the vic
tim’s vagina; and first-degree sexual assault for touching her breasts.
Ice was sentenced under a state statute providing, generally, for con
current sentences, Ore. Rev. Stat. §137.123(1), but allowing the judge
to impose consecutive sentences in these circumstances: (1) when “a
defendant is simultaneously sentenced for . . . offenses that do not
arise from the same . . . course of conduct,” §137.123(2), and (2) when
offenses arise from the same course of conduct, if the judge finds ei
ther “(a) [t]hat the . . . offense . . . was an indication of defendant’s
willingness to commit more than one criminal offense; or . . . “(b) [t]he
. . . offense . . . caused or created a risk of causing greater or qualita
tively different . . . harm to the victim,” §137.123(5). The trial judge
first found that the two burglaries constituted separate incidents and
exercised his discretion to impose consecutive sentences for those
crimes under §137.123(2). The court then found that each offense of
touching the victim’s vagina met §137.123(5)’s two criteria, giving the
judge discretion to impose the sentences for those offenses consecu
tive to the two associated burglary sentences. The court elected to do
so, but ordered that the sentences for touching the victim’s breasts
run concurrently with the other sentences. On appeal, Ice argued, in
ter alia, that the sentencing statute was unconstitutional under Ap
prendi v. New Jersey, 530 U. S. 466, 490, and Blakely v. Washington,
542 U. S. 296, holding that the Sixth Amendment’s jury-trial guaran
tee requires that the jury, rather than the judge, determine any fact
(other than the existence of a prior conviction) that increases the
maximum punishment authorized for a particular crime. The appel
2 OREGON v. ICE
Syllabus
late court affirmed, but the Oregon Supreme Court reversed, holding
that the Apprendi rule applied because the imposition of consecutive
sentences increased Ice’s quantum of punishment.
Held: In light of historical practice and the States’ authority over ad
ministration of their criminal justice systems, the Sixth Amendment
does not inhibit States from assigning to judges, rather than to juries,
the finding of facts necessary to the imposition of consecutive, rather
than concurrent, sentences for multiple offenses. Pp. 5–11.
(a) The Court declines to extend the Apprendi and Blakely line of
decisions beyond the offense-specific context that supplied the his
toric grounding for the decisions. The Court’s application of Ap
prendi’s rule must honor the “longstanding common-law practice” in
which the rule is rooted. Cunningham v. California, 549 U. S. 270,
281. The rule’s animating principle is the preservation of the jury’s
historic role as a bulwark between the State and the accused at the
trial for an alleged offense. See Apprendi, 530 U. S., at 477. Because
the Sixth Amendment does not countenance legislative encroachment
on the jury’s traditional domain, see id., at 497, the Court considers
whether the finding of a particular fact was understood as within the
jury’s domain by the Bill of Rights’ framers, Harris v. United States,
536 U. S. 545, 557. In so doing, the Court is also cognizant that ad
ministration of a discrete criminal justice system is among the basic
sovereign prerogatives States retain. See, e.g., Patterson v. New
York, 432 U. S. 197, 201. These twin considerations—historical prac
tice and respect for state sovereignty—counsel against extending Ap
prendi to the imposition of sentences for discrete crimes. P. 6.
(b) The historical record demonstrates that both in England before
this Nation’s founding and in the early American States, the common
law generally entrusted the decision whether sentences for discrete
offenses should be served consecutively or concurrently to judges’ un
fettered discretion, assigning no role in the determination to the jury.
Thus, legislative reforms regarding the imposition of multiple sen
tences do not implicate the core concerns that prompted the Court’s
decision in Apprendi. There is no encroachment here by the judge
upon facts historically found by the jury, nor any threat to the jury’s
domain as a bulwark at trial between the State and the accused. In
stead, the defendant—who historically may have faced consecutive
sentences by default—has been granted by some modern legislatures
statutory protections meant to temper the harshness of the historical
practice. Ice’s argument that he is “entitled” to concurrent sentences
absent the factfindings Oregon law requires is rejected. Because the
scope of the federal constitutional jury right must be informed by the
jury’s historical common-law role, that right does not attach to every
contemporary state-law “entitlement” to predicate findings. For simi
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 3
Syllabus
lar reasons, Cunningham, upon which Ice heavily relies, does not
control here. In holding that the facts permitting imposition of an
elevated “upper term” sentence for a particular crime fell within the
jury’s province rather than the sentencing judge’s, 549 U. S., at 274,
Cunningham had no occasion to consider the appropriate inquiry
when no erosion of the jury’s traditional role was at stake. Pp. 7–8.
(c) States’ interest in the development of their penal systems, and
their historic dominion in this area, also counsel against the exten
sion of Apprendi that Ice requests. This Court should not diminish
the States’ sovereign authority over the administration of their
criminal justice systems absent impelling reason to do so. Limiting
judicial discretion to impose consecutive sentences serves the “salu
tary objectives” of promoting sentences proportionate to “the gravity
of the offense,” Blakely, 542 U. S., at 308, and of reducing disparities
in sentence length. All agree that a scheme making consecutive sen
tences the rule, and concurrent sentences the exception, encounters
no Sixth Amendment shoal. To hem in States by holding that they
may not choose to make concurrent sentences the rule, and consecu
tive sentences the exception, would make scant sense. Neither Ap
prendi nor the Court’s Sixth Amendment traditions compel strait
jacketing the States in that manner. Further, the potential intrusion
of Apprendi’s rule into other state initiatives on sentencing choices or
accoutrements—for example, permitting trial judges to find facts
about the offense’s nature or the defendant’s character in determin
ing the length of supervised release, required attendance at drug re
habilitation programs or terms of community service, and the imposi
tion of fines and restitution—would cut the rule loose from its
moorings. Moreover, the expansion Ice seeks would be difficult for
States to administer, as the predicate facts for consecutive sentences
could substantially prejudice the defense at the trial’s guilt phase,
potentially necessitating bifurcated or trifurcated trials. Pp. 9–10.
343 Ore. 248, 170 P. 3d 1049, reversed and remanded.
GINSBURG, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which STEVENS,
KENNEDY, BREYER, and ALITO, JJ., joined. SCALIA, J., filed a dissenting
opinion, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and SOUTER and THOMAS, JJ., joined.
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 1
Opinion of the Court
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
_________________
No. 07–901
_________________
OREGON, PETITIONER v. THOMAS EUGENE ICE
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF
OREGON
[January 14, 2009]
JUSTICE GINSBURG delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case concerns the scope of the Sixth Amendment’s
jury-trial guarantee, as construed in Apprendi v. New
Jersey, 530 U. S. 466 (2000), and Blakely v. Washington,
542 U. S. 296 (2004). Those decisions are rooted in the
historic jury function—determining whether the prosecu
tion has proved each element of an offense beyond a rea
sonable doubt. They hold that it is within the jury’s prov
ince to determine any fact (other than the existence of a
prior conviction) that increases the maximum punishment
authorized for a particular offense. Thus far, the Court
has not extended the Apprendi and Blakely line of deci
sions beyond the offense-specific context that supplied the
historic grounding for the decisions. The question here
presented concerns a sentencing function in which the jury
traditionally played no part: When a defendant has been
tried and convicted of multiple offenses, each involving
discrete sentencing prescriptions, does the Sixth Amend
ment mandate jury determination of any fact declared
necessary to the imposition of consecutive, in lieu of con
current, sentences?
Most States continue the common-law tradition: They
2 OREGON v. ICE
Opinion of the Court
entrust to judges’ unfettered discretion the decision
whether sentences for discrete offenses shall be served
consecutively or concurrently. In some States, sentences
for multiple offenses are presumed to run consecutively,
but sentencing judges may order concurrent sentences
upon finding cause therefor. Other States, including
Oregon, constrain judges’ discretion by requiring them to
find certain facts before imposing consecutive, rather than
concurrent, sentences. It is undisputed that States may
proceed on the first two tracks without transgressing the
Sixth Amendment. The sole issue in dispute, then, is
whether the Sixth Amendment, as construed in Apprendi
and Blakely, precludes the mode of proceeding chosen by
Oregon and several of her sister States. We hold, in light
of historical practice and the authority of States over
administration of their criminal justice systems, that the
Sixth Amendment does not exclude Oregon’s choice.
I
A
State laws, as just observed, prescribe a variety of ap
proaches to the decision whether a defendant’s sentences
for distinct offenses shall run concurrently or consecu
tively. Oregon might have followed the prevailing pattern
by placing the decision within the trial court’s discretion
in all,1 or almost all,2 circumstances. Instead, Oregon and
several other States have adopted a more restrained ap
proach: they provide for judicial discretion, but constrain
its exercise. In these States, to impose consecutive sen
——————
1 E.g., Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat. §53a–37 (2005)); Idaho (Idaho
Code §18–308 (Lexis 2004)); Nebraska (Neb. Rev. Stat. §29–2204
(1995)). See generally Brief for National Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers as Amicus Curiae 9, n. 6 (listing laws of nine other
States).
2 E.g., Florida (Fla. Stat. §921.16 (2007)); Kansas (Kan. Stat. Ann.
§21–4608 (2007)); Mississippi (Miss. Code Ann. §99–19–21 (2007)).
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 3
Opinion of the Court
tences, judges must make certain predicate fact findings.3
The controlling statute in Oregon provides that sen
tences shall run concurrently unless the judge finds statu
torily described facts. Ore. Rev. Stat. §137.123(1) (2007).
In most cases, finding such facts permits—but does not
require—the judge to order consecutive sentences.4 Spe
cifically, an Oregon judge may order consecutive sentences
“[i]f a defendant is simultaneously sentenced for criminal
offenses that do not arise from the same continuous and
uninterrupted course of conduct.” §137.123(2). If the
offenses do arise from the same course of conduct, the
judge may still impose consecutive sentences if she finds
either:
“(a) That the criminal offense . . . was an indication of
defendant’s willingness to commit more than one
criminal offense; or
“(b) The criminal offense . . . caused or created a risk
of causing greater or qualitatively different loss, in
jury or harm to the victim or . . . to a different victim
. . . .” §137.123(5).
B
On two occasions between December 1996 and July
1997, respondent Thomas Eugene Ice entered an apart
ment in the complex he managed and sexually assaulted
an 11-year-old girl. 343 Ore. 248, 250, 170 P. 3d 1049,
1050 (2007). An Oregon jury convicted Ice of six crimes.
For each of the two incidents, the jury found him guilty of
first-degree burglary for entering with the intent to com
——————
3 E.g., Maine (Me. Rev. Stat. Ann., Tit. 17–A, §1256 (2006); State v.
Keene, 2007 ME 84, 927 A. 2d 398); Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. §40–
35–115(b) (2006); State v. Allen, 259 S. W. 3d 671 (Tenn. 2008)); Oregon
(Ore. Rev. Stat. §137.123 (2007)).
4 Sentences must run consecutively, however, “[w]hen a defendant is
sentenced for a crime committed while the defendant was incarcer
ated.” Ore. Rev. Stat. §137.123(3).
4 OREGON v. ICE
Opinion of the Court
mit sexual abuse; first-degree sexual assault for touching
the victim’s vagina; and first-degree sexual assault for
touching the victim’s breasts. Ibid.
At sentencing, the judge made findings, pursuant to
§137.123, that permitted the imposition of consecutive
sentences. First, the judge found that the two burglaries
constituted “separate incident[s].” Id., at 255, 170 P. 3d,
at 1053 (internal quotation marks omitted). Based on that
finding, the judge had, and exercised, discretion to impose
the two burglary sentences consecutively. Ibid.; see
§137.123(2).
Second, the court found that each offense of touching the
victim’s vagina met the statutory criteria set forth in
§137.123(5): Ice displayed a “willingness to commit more
than one . . . offense” during each criminal episode, and his
conduct “caused or created a risk of causing greater,
qualitatively different loss, injury, or harm to the victim.”
Id., at 253, 170 P. 3d, at 1051 (internal quotation marks
omitted). These findings gave the judge discretion to
impose the sentence for each of those sexual assault of
fenses consecutive to the associated burglary sentence.
The court elected to do so. Ibid. The court ordered, how
ever, that the sentences for touching the victim’s breasts
run concurrently with the other sentences. Ibid. In total,
the court sentenced Ice to 340 months’ imprisonment.
App. 46–87.5
Ice appealed his sentences. In relevant part, he argued
that he had a Sixth Amendment right to have the jury, not
the sentencing judge, find the facts that permitted the
imposition of consecutive sentences. The appellate court
affirmed the trial court’s judgment without opinion. 178
Ore. App. 415, 39 P. 3d 291 (2001).
The Oregon Supreme Court granted Ice’s petition for
——————
5 Had the judge ordered concurrent service of all sentences, Ice’s time
in prison would have been 90 months. App. 68, 75.
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 5
Opinion of the Court
review and reversed, 4 to 2. 343 Ore., at 250, 170 P. 3d, at
1050.6 In the majority’s view, the rule of Apprendi ap
plied, because the imposition of consecutive sentences
increased “the quantum of punishment” imposed. 343
Ore., at 265, 170 P. 3d, at 1058. The dissenting justices
concluded that “[n]either the holding in Apprendi nor its
reasoning support[ed] extending that decision to the ques
tion of consecutive sentencing.” Id., at 267, 170 P. 3d, at
1059 (opinion of Kistler, J.). State high courts have di
vided over whether the rule of Apprendi governs consecu
tive sentencing decisions.7 We granted review to resolve
the question. 552 U. S. __ (2008).
II
The Federal Constitution’s jury-trial guarantee assigns
the determination of certain facts to the jury’s exclusive
province. Under that guarantee, this Court held in Ap
prendi, “any fact that increases the penalty for a crime
beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be sub
mitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”
530 U. S., at 490.
We have applied Apprendi’s rule to facts subjecting a
defendant to the death penalty, Ring v. Arizona, 536 U. S.
584, 602, 609 (2002), facts allowing a sentence exceeding
the “standard” range in Washington’s sentencing system,
Blakely, 542 U. S., at 304–305, and facts prompting an
elevated sentence under then-mandatory Federal Sentenc
ing Guidelines, United States v. Booker, 543 U. S. 220, 244
——————
6 Preliminarily, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled unanimously that
the consecutive-sentencing findings did not constitute elements of any
specific crime, and therefore the jury-trial right safeguarded by the
Oregon Constitution was not violated. 343 Ore. 248, 261–262, 170
P. 3d 1049, 1056 (2007).
7 Compare, e.g., People v. Wagener, 196 Ill. 2d 269, 283–286, 752
N. E. 2d 430, 440–442 (2001) (holding that Apprendi does not apply);
Keene, 927 A. 2d, 405–408 (same); with State v. Foster, 109 Ohio St. 3d
1, 2006–Ohio–856, 845 N. E. 2d 470 (holding Apprendi applicable).
6 OREGON v. ICE
Opinion of the Court
(2005). Most recently, in Cunningham v. California, 549
U. S. 270 (2007), we applied Apprendi’s rule to facts per
mitting imposition of an “upper term” sentence under
California’s determinate sentencing law. All of these
decisions involved sentencing for a discrete crime, not—as
here—for multiple offenses different in character or com
mitted at different times.
Our application of Apprendi’s rule must honor the “long
standing common-law practice” in which the rule is rooted.
Cunningham, 549 U. S., at 281. The rule’s animating
principle is the preservation of the jury’s historic role as a
bulwark between the State and the accused at the trial for
an alleged offense. See Apprendi, 530 U. S., at 477.
Guided by that principle, our opinions make clear that the
Sixth Amendment does not countenance legislative en
croachment on the jury’s traditional domain. See id., at
497. We accordingly considered whether the finding of a
particular fact was understood as within “the domain of
the jury . . . by those who framed the Bill of Rights.”
Harris v. United States, 536 U. S. 545, 557 (2002) (plural
ity opinion). In undertaking this inquiry, we remain
cognizant that administration of a discrete criminal justice
system is among the basic sovereign prerogatives States
retain. See, e.g., Patterson v. New York, 432 U. S. 197, 201
(1977).
These twin considerations—historical practice and
respect for state sovereignty—counsel against extending
Apprendi’s rule to the imposition of sentences for discrete
crimes. The decision to impose sentences consecutively is
not within the jury function that “extends down centuries
into the common law.” Apprendi, 530 U. S., at 477. In
stead, specification of the regime for administering multi
ple sentences has long been considered the prerogative of
state legislatures.
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009)
7
Opinion of the Court
A
The historical record demonstrates that the jury played
no role in the decision to impose sentences consecutively
or concurrently. Rather, the choice rested exclusively with
the judge. See, e.g., 1 J. Bishop, Criminal Law §636, pp.
649–650 (2d ed. 1858) (“[W]hen there are two or more
convictions, on which sentence remains to be pronounced;
the judgment may direct, that each succeeding period of
imprisonment shall commence on the termination of the
period next preceding.”); A. Campbell, Law of Sentencing
§9:22, p. 425 (3d ed. 2004) (“Firmly rooted in common law
is the principle that the selection of either concurrent or
consecutive sentences rests within the discretion of sen
tencing judges.”). This was so in England before the
founding of our Nation,8 and in the early American
States.9 Ice “has no quarrel with [this account] of consecu
tive sentencing practices through the ages.” Brief for
Respondent 32. The historical record further indicates
that a judge’s imposition of consecutive, rather than con
current, sentences was the prevailing practice.10
——————
8 E.g., King v. Wilkes, 19 How. St. Tr. 1075, 1132–1136 (K. B. 1769);
see also Lee v. Walker, [1985] 1 Q. B. 1191, 1201 (1984) (“[T]he High
Court has always had inherent jurisdiction to impose consecutive
sentences of imprisonment in any appropriate case where the court had
power to imprison.”).
9 E.g., Russell v. Commonwealth, 7 Serg. & Rawle 489, 490 (Pa. 1822)
(Judicial imposition of consecutive sentences has been “the common
practice in the Courts of this State,” and it is “warranted by principle,
practice, and authority.”); In re Walsh, 37 Neb. 454, 456, 55 N. W. 1075,
1076 (1893) (“[T]he great weight of authority is in favor of the proposi
tion that . . . the court has power to impose cumulative sentences.”); In
re Breton, 93 Me. 39, 42, 44 A. 125, 126 (1899) (same); Howard v.
United States, 75 F. 986, 993 (CA6 1896) (“[A] rule which denies the
court the power to impose cumulative sentences turns the trial and
conviction on all the indictments except one into an idle ceremony.”).
10 E.g., Queen v. Cutbush, 2 L. R. Q. B. 379, 382, 10 Cox Crim. Cas.
489, 492 (1867) (“[R]ight and justice require [that] when a man has
been guilty of separate offences, . . . that he should not escape from the
8 OREGON v. ICE
Opinion of the Court
In light of this history, legislative reforms regarding the
imposition of multiple sentences do not implicate the core
concerns that prompted our decision in Apprendi. There is
no encroachment here by the judge upon facts historically
found by the jury, nor any threat to the jury’s domain as a
bulwark at trial between the State and the accused.
Instead, the defendant—who historically may have faced
consecutive sentences by default—has been granted by
some modern legislatures statutory protections meant to
temper the harshness of the historical practice.
It is no answer that, as Ice argues, “he was ‘entitled’ to”
concurrent sentences absent the fact findings Oregon law
requires. Brief for Respondent 43. In Ice’s view, because
“the Oregon Legislature deviated from tradition” and
enacted a statute that hinges consecutive sentences on
fact findings, Apprendi’s rule must be imported. Brief for
Respondent 33. As we have described, the scope of the
constitutional jury right must be informed by the histori
cal role of the jury at common law. See, e.g., Williams v.
Florida, 399 U. S. 78, 98–100 (1970). It is therefore not
the case that, as Ice suggests, the federal constitutional
right attaches to every contemporary state-law “entitle
ment” to predicate findings.
For similar reasons, Cunningham, upon which Ice heav
ily relies, does not control his case. As stated earlier, we
held in Cunningham that the facts permitting imposition
of an elevated “upper term” sentence for a particular crime
fell within the jury’s province. 549 U. S., at 274 (internal
quotation marks omitted). The assignment of such a
finding to the sentencing judge implicates Apprendi’s core
concern: a legislative attempt to “remove from the [prov
——————
punishment due to the additional offence, merely because he is already
sentenced to be imprisoned for another offence.”); ibid. (noting that it
had been the practice to impose consecutive sentences “so far as living
judicial memory goes back”).
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 9
Opinion of the Court
ince of the] jury” the determination of facts that warrant
punishment for a specific statutory offense. Apprendi, 530
U. S., at 490 (internal quotation marks omitted). We had
no occasion to consider the appropriate inquiry when no
erosion of the jury’s traditional role was at stake. Cun
ningham thus does not impede our conclusion that, as
Apprendi’s core concern is inapplicable to the issue at
hand, so too is the Sixth Amendment’s restriction on
judge-found facts.
B
States’ interest in the development of their penal sys
tems, and their historic dominion in this area, also counsel
against the extension of Apprendi that Ice requests. Be
yond question, the authority of States over the admini
stration of their criminal justice systems lies at the core of
their sovereign status. See, e.g., Patterson, 432 U. S., at
201 (“It goes without saying that preventing and dealing
with crime is much more the business of the States than it
is of the Federal Government.”). We have long recognized
the role of the States as laboratories for devising solutions
to difficult legal problems. See New State Ice Co. v. Lieb
mann, 285 U. S. 262, 311 (1932) (Brandeis, J., dissenting).
This Court should not diminish that role absent impelling
reason to do so.
It bears emphasis that state legislative innovations like
Oregon’s seek to rein in the discretion judges possessed at
common law to impose consecutive sentences at will.
Limiting judicial discretion to impose consecutive sen
tences serves the “salutary objectives” of promoting sen
tences proportionate to “the gravity of the offense,”
Blakely, 542 U. S., at 308, and of reducing disparities in
sentence length, see 6 W. LaFave, J. Israel, N. King, & O.
Kerr, Criminal Procedure §26.3(f) (3d ed 2007). All agree
that a scheme making consecutive sentences the rule, and
concurrent sentences the exception, encounters no Sixth
10 OREGON v. ICE
Opinion of the Court
Amendment shoal. To hem in States by holding that they
may not equally choose to make concurrent sentences
the rule, and consecutive sentences the exception, would
make scant sense. Neither Apprendi nor our Sixth
Amendment traditions compel straitjacketing the States
in that manner.
Further, it is unclear how many other state initiatives
would fall under Ice’s proposed expansion of Apprendi. As
17 States have observed in an amici brief supporting
Oregon, States currently permit judges to make a variety
of sentencing determinations other than the length of
incarceration. Trial judges often find facts about the
nature of the offense or the character of the defendant in
determining, for example, the length of supervised release
following service of a prison sentence; required attendance
at drug rehabilitation programs or terms of community
service; and the imposition of statutorily prescribed fines
and orders of restitution. See Brief for State of Indiana
et al. as Amici Curiae 11. Intruding Apprendi’s rule into
these decisions on sentencing choices or accoutrements
surely would cut the rule loose from its moorings.
Moreover, the expansion that Ice seeks would be diffi
cult for States to administer. The predicate facts for
consecutive sentences could substantially prejudice the
defense at the guilt phase of a trial. As a result, bifur
cated or trifurcated trials might often prove necessary.
Brief for State of Indiana et al. as Amici Curiae 14–15.
We will not so burden the Nation’s trial courts absent any
genuine affront to Apprendi’s instruction.
We recognize that not every state initiative will be in
harmony with Sixth Amendment ideals. But as we have
previously emphasized, “structural democratic constraints
exist to discourage legislatures from” pernicious manipu
lation of the rules we articulate. Apprendi, 530 U. S., at
490, n. 16. In any event, if confronted with such a ma
nipulation, “we would be required to question whether the
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 11
Opinion of the Court
[legislative measure] was constitutional under this Court’s
prior decisions.” Id., at 491, n. 16. The Oregon statute
before us today raises no such concern.
III
Members of this Court have warned against “wooden,
unyielding insistence on expanding the Apprendi doctrine
far beyond its necessary boundaries.” Cunningham, 549
U. S., at 295 (Kennedy, J., dissenting). The jury-trial right
is best honored through a “principled rationale” that ap
plies the rule of the Apprendi cases “within the central
sphere of their concern.” 549 U. S., at 295. Our disposi
tion today—upholding an Oregon statute that assigns to
judges a decision that has not traditionally belonged to the
jury—is faithful to that aim.
* * *
For the reasons stated, the judgment of the Oregon
Supreme Court is reversed, and the case is remanded for
further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 1
SCALIA, J., dissenting
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
_________________
No. 07–901
_________________
OREGON, PETITIONER v. THOMAS EUGENE ICE
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF
OREGON
[January 14, 2009]
JUSTICE SCALIA, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE,
JUSTICE SOUTER, and JUSTICE THOMAS join, dissenting.
The rule of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U. S. 466
(2000), is clear: Any fact—other than that of a prior con
viction—that increases the maximum punishment to
which a defendant may be sentenced must be admitted by
the defendant or proved beyond a reasonable doubt to a
jury. Oregon’s sentencing scheme allows judges rather
than juries to find the facts necessary to commit defen
dants to longer prison sentences, and thus directly contra
dicts what we held eight years ago and have reaffirmed
several times since. The Court’s justification of Oregon’s
scheme is a virtual copy of the dissents in those cases.
The judge in this case could not have imposed a sen
tence of consecutive prison terms without making the
factual finding that the defendant caused “separate
harms” to the victim by the acts that produced two convic
tions. See 343 Ore. 248, 268, 170 P. 3d 1049, 1060 (2007)
(Kistler, J., dissenting). There can thus be no doubt that
the judge’s factual finding was “essential to” the punish
ment he imposed. United States v. Booker, 543 U. S. 220,
232 (2005). That “should be the end of the matter.”
Blakely v. Washington, 542 U. S. 296, 313 (2004).
Instead, the Court attempts to distinguish Oregon’s
sentencing scheme by reasoning that the rule of Apprendi
applies only to the length of a sentence for an individual
2 OREGON v. ICE
SCALIA, J., dissenting
crime and not to the total sentence for a defendant. I
cannot understand why we would make such a strange
exception to the treasured right of trial by jury. Neither
the reasoning of the Apprendi line of cases, nor any dis
tinctive history of the factfinding necessary to imposition
of consecutive sentences, nor (of course) logic supports
such an odd rule.
We have taken pains to reject artificial limitations upon
the facts subject to the jury-trial guarantee. We long ago
made clear that the guarantee turns upon the penal con
sequences attached to the fact, and not to its formal defini
tion as an element of the crime. Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421
U. S. 684, 698 (1975). More recently, we rejected the
contention that the “aggravating circumstances” that
qualify a defendant for the death penalty did not have to
be found by the jury. “If,” we said, “a State makes an
increase in a defendant’s authorized punishment contin
gent on the finding of a fact, that fact—no matter how the
State labels it—must be found by a jury beyond a reason
able doubt.” Ring v. Arizona, 536 U. S. 584, 602 (2002). A
bare three years ago, in rejecting the contention that the
facts determining application of the Federal Sentencing
Guidelines did not have to be found by the jury, we again
set forth the pragmatic, practical, nonformalistic rule in
terms that cannot be mistaken: The jury must “find the
existence of ‘ “any particular fact” ’ that the law makes
essential to [a defendant’s] punishment.” Booker, supra,
at 232 (quoting Blakely, supra, at 301).
This rule leaves no room for a formalistic distinction
between facts bearing on the number of years of impris
onment that a defendant will serve for one count (subject
to the rule of Apprendi) and facts bearing on how many
years will be served in total (now not subject to Apprendi).
There is no doubt that consecutive sentences are a
“greater punishment” than concurrent sentences, Ap
prendi, supra, at 494. We have hitherto taken note of the
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 3
SCALIA, J., dissenting
reality that “a concurrent sentence is traditionally im
posed as a less severe sanction than a consecutive sen
tence.” Ralston v. Robinson, 454 U. S. 201, 216, n. 9
(1981) (emphasis deleted). The decision to impose con
secutive sentences alters the single consequence most
important to convicted noncapital defendants: their date of
release from prison. For many defendants, the difference
between consecutive and concurrent sentences is more
important than a jury verdict of innocence on any single
count: Two consecutive 10-year sentences are in most
circumstances a more severe punishment than any num
ber of concurrent 10-year sentences.
To support its distinction-without-a-difference, the Court
puts forward the same (the very same) arguments regard
ing the history of sentencing that were rejected by Ap
prendi. Here, it is entirely irrelevant that common-law
judges had discretion to impose either consecutive or
concurrent sentences, ante, at 7; just as there it was en
tirely irrelevant that common-law judges had discretion to
impose greater or lesser sentences (within the prescribed
statutory maximum) for individual convictions. There is
no Sixth Amendment problem with a system that exposes
defendants to a known range of sentences after a guilty
verdict: “In a system that says the judge may punish
burglary with 10 to 40 years, every burglar knows he is
risking 40 years in jail.” Blakely, supra, at 309. The same
analysis applies to a system where both consecutive and
concurrent sentences are authorized after only a jury
verdict of guilt; the burglar-rapist knows he is risking
consecutive sentences. Our concern here is precisely the
same as our concern in Apprendi: What happens when a
State breaks from the common-law practice of discretion
ary sentences and permits the imposition of an elevated
sentence only upon the showing of extraordinary facts? In
such a system, the defendant “is entitled to” the lighter
sentence “and by reason of the Sixth Amendment[,] the
4 OREGON v. ICE
SCALIA, J., dissenting
facts bearing upon that entitlement must be found by a
jury.” Blakely, 542 U. S., at 309.
The Court protests that in this case there is no “en
croachment” on or “erosion” of the jury’s role because
traditionally it was for the judge to determine whether
there would be concurrent terms. Ante, at 8–9. Alas, this
argument too was made and rejected in Apprendi. The
jury’s role was not diminished, the Apprendi dissent con
tended, because it was traditionally up to judges, not
juries, to determine what the sentence would be. 530
U. S., at 556, 559 (opinion of BREYER, J.). The Court’s
opinion acknowledged that in the 19th century it was the
practice to leave sentencing up to the judges, within limits
fixed by law. But, it said, that practice had no bearing
upon whether the jury must find the fact where a law
conditions the higher sentence upon the fact. The jury’s
role is diminished when the length of a sentence is made
to depend upon a fact removed from its determination.
Id., at 482–483. The same is true here.
The Court then observes that the results of the Oregon
system could readily be achieved, instead, by a system in
which consecutive sentences are the default rule but
judges are permitted to impose concurrent sentences when
they find certain facts. Ante, at 9–10. Undoubtedly the
Sixth Amendment permits a system in which judges are
authorized (or even required) to impose consecutive sen
tences unless the defendant proves additional facts to the
Court’s satisfaction. See ibid. But the permissibility of
that alternative means of achieving the same end obvi
ously does not distinguish Apprendi, because the same
argument (the very same argument) was raised and
squarely rejected in that case:
“If the defendant can escape the statutory maximum
by showing, for example, that he is a war veteran,
then a judge that finds the fact of veteran status is
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 5
SCALIA, J., dissenting
neither exposing the defendant to a deprivation of lib
erty greater than that authorized by the verdict ac
cording to statute, nor is the judge imposing upon the
defendant a greater stigma than that accompanying
the jury verdict alone. Core concerns animating the
jury and burden-of-proof requirements are thus ab
sent from such a scheme.” 530 U. S., at 491, n. 16.
Ultimately, the Court abandons its effort to provide
analytic support for its decision, and turns to what it
thinks to be the “ ‘salutary objectives’ ” of Oregon’s scheme.
Ante, at 9. “Limiting judicial discretion,” we are told,
promotes sentences proportionate to the gravity of the
offense, and reduces disparities in sentence length. Ibid.
The same argument (the very same argument) was made
and rejected in Booker, see 543 U. S., at 244, and Blakely,
see 542 U. S., at 313. The protection of the Sixth Amend
ment does not turn on this Court’s opinion of whether an
alternative scheme is good policy, or whether the legisla
ture had a compassionate heart in adopting it. The right
to trial by jury and proof beyond a reasonable doubt is a
given, and all legislative policymaking—good and bad,
heartless and compassionate—must work within the
confines of that reality. Of course the Court probably
exaggerates the benign effect of Oregon’s scheme, as is
suggested by the defense bar’s vigorous objection, evi
denced by the participation of the National Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers as amicus in favor of respon
dent. Even that exaggeration is a replay of the rejected
dissent in one of our prior cases. There the Court re
sponded: “It is hard to believe that the National Associa
tion of Criminal Defense Lawyers was somehow duped
into arguing for the wrong side.” Blakely, supra, at 312.
Finally, the Court summons up the parade of horribles
assembled by the amicus brief of 17 States supporting
Oregon. It notes that “[t]rial judges often find facts” in
6 OREGON v. ICE
SCALIA, J., dissenting
connection with “a variety of sentencing determinations
other than the length of incarceration,” and worries that
even their ability to set the length of supervised release,
impose community service, or order entry into a drug
rehabilitation program, may be called into question. Ante,
at 10. But if these courses reduce rather than augment
the punishment that the jury verdict imposes, there is no
problem. The last horrible the Court invokes is the pros
pect of bifurcated or even trifurcated trials in order to
have the jury find the facts essential to consecutive sen
tencing without prejudicing the defendant’s merits case.
Ibid. That is another déjà vu and déjà rejeté; we have
watched it parade past before, in several of our Apprendi
related opinions, and have not saluted. See Blakely, su
pra, at 336–337 (BREYER, J., dissenting); Apprendi, supra,
at 557 (same).
* * *
The Court’s peroration says that “[t]he jury-trial right is
best honored through a ‘principled rationale’ that applies
the rule of the Apprendi cases ‘within the central sphere of
their concern.’ ” Ante, at 11 (quoting Cunningham v.
California, 549 U. S. 270, 295 (2007) (KENNEDY, J., dis
senting)). Undoubtedly so. But we have hitherto consid
ered “the central sphere of their concern” to be facts neces
sary to the increase of the defendant’s sentence beyond
what the jury verdict alone justifies. “If the jury’s verdict
alone does not authorize the sentence, if, instead, the
judge must find an additional fact to impose the longer
term, the Sixth Amendment requirement is not satisfied.”
Id., at 290 (opinion of the Court). If the doubling or tri
pling of a defendant’s jail time through fact-dependent
consecutive sentencing does not meet this description,
nothing does. And as for a “principled rationale”: The
Court’s reliance upon a distinction without a difference,
and its repeated exhumation of arguments dead and bur
Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 7
SCALIA, J., dissenting
ied by prior cases, seems to me the epitome of the opposite.
Today’s opinion muddies the waters, and gives cause to
doubt whether the Court is willing to stand by Apprendi’s
interpretation of the Sixth Amendment’s jury-trial guar
antee.