Cite as: 519 U. S. 148 (1997)
Stevens, J., dissenting
The Court, however, appears willing to read the statute's treatment of multiple offenses as though it authorized an incremental penalty for each offense for which the defendant was indicted if she is convicted of at least one such offense. The fact that the text of the statute expressly authorizes such incremental punishment "for each offense" only when a "defendant is convicted of . . . multiple offenses" conveys a far different message to thoughtful judges.6
In my opinion the statute should be construed in the light of the traditional requirement that criminal charges must be sustained by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. That requirement has always applied to charges involving multiple offenses as well as a single offense. Whether an allegation of criminal conduct is the sole basis for punishment or merely one of several bases for punishment, we should presume that Congress intended the new sentencing Guidelines that it authorized in 1984 to adhere to longstanding procedural requirements enshrined in our constitutional jurisprudence.
determining an appropriate sentence. 18 U. S. C. § 3553(a)(1); see also 28 U. S. C. § 994(d). In § 994(d), Congress granted the Sentencing Commission the authority to "consider whether [certain enumerated factors], among others, have any relevance" in establishing Guidelines for offenses. Some courts have concluded that the inclusion of the qualifier "among others" in this provision indicated that Congress intended the Commission to include anything it felt was relevant to the sentencing decision. See, e. g., United States v. Galloway, 976 F. 2d, at 420-421; United States v. Thomas, 932 F. 2d 1085, 1089 (CA5 1991), cert. denied sub nom. Pullock v. United States, 502 U. S. 895, and Samuels v. United States, 502 U. S. 962 (1992).
But this provision cannot be read separately from the rest of the statute. The clear congressional directive concerning sentencing for "multiple offenses" must be read as an important limit on the "othe[r]" factors that can be considered relevant to determination of an offense level.
6 Some judges have concluded, in large part because of this provision, that the Guidelines' relevant conduct rules are outside the scope of the authority Congress granted to the Commission. See Galloway, 976 F. 2d, at 430-431 (Beam, J., dissenting); United States v. Davern, 970 F. 2d 1490, 1507 (CA6 1992) (Merritt, C. J., dissenting).
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