741 So. 2d 512 - McCloud v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Due Process requires that every element of the crime charged must be proved, to a jury, beyond a reasonable doubt. Included within this requirement is the necessity for a strictly defined and easily predictable sentence directly attached to the crime: The accused must be sufficiently apprized of the consequences of his act and ensured a review of these facts by a jury of his peers. Even though the prescribed sentence must be strictly defined, there may be a provision within the sentence for a maximum and a minimum bound within which the accused must be sentenced. It is unconstitutional for a legislature to remove from the jury the examination of any facts that increase the prescribed range of penalties to which the accused is exposed. Therefore, any fact which, if proved, allows the judge to exceed the maximum bound of the prescribed sentence, must be proved to a jury, to a constitutional sufficiency. However, any fact which, if proved, provides for a higher sentence within the prescribed bounds need not be proved to a jury to a constitutional certainty. Instead, these sentencing factors may be determined by the judge by a preponderance of the evidence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hindenach v. State

2. “that all issues pertaining to the assessment of points on the [sentencing guidelines] scoresheet are to be determined by the court, not the jury, and that the defendant is not constitutionally entitled to have a jury make the predicate factual determination for the scoring of penetration.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 803 So. 2d 821 - McCloud v. State