All about Apprendi

Though I often talk of Blakely as the earthquake case which shook the foundations of structure sentencing reform, this recent article is a fitting reminder that the Apprendi decision really started the sentencing tremors.  The article takes stock of Apprendi‘s impact and has this clever opening: “The most influential lawmaker to emerge from South Jersey in recent years arguably has not been a governor, senator or member of the House.  It’s a citizen who appealed his sentencing for a crime — Charles C. Apprendi Jr.”

Among the interesting tidbits to be found in this article is a claim by Charles Apprendi’s defense lawyer that the Apprendi decision has already been cited in nearly 30,000 cases and thus is “the third most-cited case in all of American law, behind only the court’s 1973 ruling in Roe vs. Wade, … and the 1966 case of Miranda v. Arizona.”  Also, the article states that Charles Apprendi ultimately served only about 1/3 of his prison term before being released to a halfway house, and that he is now eligible for parole and may “soon may be a free man.”