620
O'Connor, J., dissenting
in part on the authority of [Apprendi]." Id., at 551. As of May 31, 2002, less than two years after Apprendi was announced, the United States Courts of Appeals had decided approximately 1,802 criminal appeals in which defendants challenged their sentences, and in some cases even their convictions, under Apprendi.1 These federal appeals are likely only the tip of the iceberg, as federal criminal prosecutions represent a tiny fraction of the total number of criminal prosecutions nationwide. See ibid. (O'Connor, J., dissenting) ("In 1998 . . . federal criminal prosecutions represented only about 0.4% of the total number of criminal prosecutions in federal and state courts"). The number of second or successive habeas corpus petitions filed in the federal courts also increased by 77% in 2001, a phenomenon the Administrative Office of the United States Courts attributes to prisoners bringing Apprendi claims. Administrative Office of the U. S. Courts, 2001 Judicial Business 17. This Court has been similarly overwhelmed by the aftershocks of Apprendi. A survey of the petitions for certiorari we received in the past year indicates that 18% raised Apprendi-related claims.2 It is simply beyond dispute that Apprendi threw countless criminal sentences into doubt and thereby caused an enormous increase in the workload of an already overburdened judiciary.
The decision today is only going to add to these already serious effects. The Court effectively declares five States' capital sentencing schemes unconstitutional. See ante, at 608, n. 6 (identifying Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Nebraska as having sentencing schemes like Arizona's). There are 168 prisoners on death row in these States, Criminal Justice Project of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Death Row U. S. A. (Spring 2002), each of whom
1 This data was obtained from a Westlaw search conducted May 31, 2002, in the United States Courts of Appeals database using the following search terms: " 'Apprendi v. New Jersey' & Title['U.S.' or 'United States']."
2 Specific counts are on file with the Clerk of the Court.
Page: Index Previous 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007