268
Kennedy, J., dissenting
the lines of the federal Sentencing Guidelines) would be only a more detailed version of the rephrased § 2119 suggested above. We are left to guess whether statutes of that sort might be in jeopardy. (Further, by its terms, Justice ScaliaTMs view—"that it is unconstitutional to remove from the jury the assessment of facts that alter the congressionally prescribed range of penalties to which a criminal defendant is exposed," ante, at 253 (concurring opinion)—would call into question the validity of judge-administered mandatory minimum sentencing provisions, contrary to our holding in McMillan. Once the facts triggering application of the mandatory minimum are found by the judge, the sentencing range to which the defendant is exposed is altered.) In light of these uncertainties, today's decision raises more questions than the Court acknowledges.
In any event, the Court's constitutional doubts are not well founded. In Almendarez-Torres, we squarely rejected the petitioner's argument that "any significant increase in a statutory maximum sentence would trigger a constitutional 'elements' requirement"; as we said, the Constitution "does not impose that requirement." 523 U. S., at 247. See also Monge v. California, 524 U. S. 721, 729 (1998) ("[T]he Court has rejected an absolute rule that an enhancement constitutes an element of the offense any time that it increases the maximum sentence to which a defendant is exposed"). Indeed, the dissenters in Almendarez-Torres had no doubt on this score. 523 U. S., at 260 (opinion of Scalia, J.) (arguing that "there was, until today's unnecessary resolution of the point, 'serious doubt' whether the Constitution permits a defendant's sentencing exposure to be increased tenfold on the basis of a fact that is not charged, tried to a jury, and found beyond a reasonable doubt").
The Court suggests two bases on which AlmendarezTorres is distinguishable, neither of which is persuasive. First, the Court suggests that this case is "concerned with the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial and not alone the
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