Supreme Court's October Term 2018 Contains Hints of Things to Come

Following his conviction for possession of child pornography, Haymond completed a prison sentence. He was serving a ten-year term of supervised release when government officials discovered what appeared to be images of child pornography on his cell phone. Following a hearing for the revocation of Haymond's supervised release, the judge found, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Haymond had knowingly possessed some of the images. Under 18 U.S.C. §3583(k), possession of child pornography during a period of supervised release carries a mandatory five-year term of imprisonment, and, so, Haymond received an additional five-year sentence. The Tenth Circuit held that the procedure contemplated in Section 3583(k) — that is, a mandatory five-year prison term for violation of supervised release, as determined by a judge under the "preponderance of the evidence" standard — violated the defendant's right to a trial by jury.

The Supreme Court affirmed and splintered along atypical lines. Justice Gorsuch wrote the plurality opinion for Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan. Justice Breyer provided a fifth vote but concurred separately, making his decision the binding precedent. Justice Alito wrote a dissent for himself, Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh. The plurality opinion concluded that the imposition of a mandatory minimum sentence triggered the Apprendi requirements of trial by jury and proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In particular, Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. 99, 111-12 (2013), held that facts setting a mandatory minimum sentence also must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt and to a jury.