Supreme Court of the United States - Press Release
Supreme Court of the United States: Hurst v. Florida ruling
Cite as: 577 U. S. (2016) 5
Opinion of the Court
doubt. Alleyne v. United States, 570 U. S. , (2013) (slip op., at 3). In Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U. S. 466, 494 (2000), this Court held that any fact that “expose[s] the defendant to a greater punishment than that author ized by the jury’s guilty verdict” is an “element” that must be submitted to a jury. In the years since Apprendi, we have applied its rule to instances involving plea bargains, Blakely v. Washington, 542 U. S. 296 (2004), sentencing guidelines, United States v. Booker, 543 U. S. 220 (2005), criminal fines, Southern Union Co. v. United States, 567
U. S. (2012), mandatory minimums, Alleyne, 570 U. S., at , and, in Ring, 536 U. S. 584, capital punishment.
In Ring, we concluded that Arizona’s capital sentencing scheme violated Apprendi’s rule because the State allowed a judge to find the facts necessary to sentence a defendant to death. An Arizona jury had convicted Timothy Ring of felony murder. 536 U. S., at 591. Under state law, “Ring could not be sentenced to death, the statutory maximum penalty for first-degree murder, unless further findings were made.” Id., at 592. Specifically, a judge could sentence Ring to death only after independently finding at least one aggravating circumstance. Id., at 592–593. Ring’s judge followed this procedure, found an aggravating circumstance, and sentenced Ring to death.
The Court had little difficulty concluding that “ ‘the required finding of an aggravated circumstance exposed Ring to a greater punishment than that authorized by the jury’s guilty verdict.’ ” Id., at 604 (quoting Apprendi, 530
U. S., at 494; alterations omitted). Had Ring’s judge not engaged in any factfinding, Ring would have received a life sentence. Ring, 536 U. S., at 597. Ring’s death sentence therefore violated his right to have a jury find the facts behind his punishment.
The analysis the Ring Court applied to Arizona’s sentencing scheme applies equally to Florida’s. Like Arizona at the time of Ring, Florida does not require the jury to
