258
Scalia, J., dissenting
McMillan's statement [regarding the "superficial appeal" the defendant's argument would have had if the factor at issue increased his maximum sentence] to mean no more than it said, and therefore not to make a determinative difference here." Ante, at 245 (emphasis added). It is impossible to understand how McMillan could mean one thing in a later case where recidivism is at issue, and something else in a later case where some other sentencing factor is at issue. One might say, of course, that recidivism should be an exception to the general rule set forth in McMillan—but that more forthright characterization would display how doubtful the constitutional question is in light of our prior case law.
In any event, there is no rational basis for making recidivism an exception. The Court is of the view that recidivism need not be proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt (a view that, as I shall discuss, is precisely contrary to the common-law tradition) because it " 'goes to the punishment only.' " It relies for this conclusion upon our opinion in Graham v. West Virginia, 224 U. S. 616 (1912). See ante, at 243, quoting Graham, supra, at 624; see also ante, at 247. The holding of Graham provides no support for the Court's position. It upheld against due process and double jeopardy objections a state recidivism law under which a defendant's prior convictions were charged and tried in a separate proceeding after he was convicted of the underlying offense. As the Court notes, ante, at 243, the prior convictions were not charged in the same indictment as the underlying offense; but they were charged in an "information" before the defendant was tried for the prior convictions, and, more importantly, the law explicitly preserved his right to a jury determination on the recidivism question. See Graham, supra, at 622-623; see also Oyler v. Boles, 368 U. S. 448, 453 (1962) (same). It is true, however, that if the basis for Graham's holding were accepted, one would have to conclude that recidivism need not be tried to the jury and found beyond a reasonable doubt. The essence of Graham's reason-
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