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Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Supreme Court delivers major ruling
Although this year will be rife with controversial rulings by the United States Supreme Court, few decisions by the Justices could have as wide-ranging effects as the case in which it ruled today.
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that federal judges have been improperly adding time to criminals' sentences, a decision that puts in doubt longtime sentencing rules.Although juries will now deliver sentences, the Court also found that previously delivered sentences should not be thrown out.
The court, on a 5-4 vote, said that its ruling last June that juries — not judges — should consider factors that can add years to defendants' prison sentences applies as well to the 17-year-old federal guideline system.
The justices refused to backtrack from the 5-4 decision that struck down a state sentencing system because it gave judges too much leeway in sentencing. But the high court stopped short of striking down the federal system.
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