Apperendi V. New Jersey - Assignment Example

Apprendi v. New Jersey The case of Apprendi v. New Jersey 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct, 2348 U.S involved a racially motivated crime whereby the sentence was deemed above the normal sentence that the accused could have received (Reuters, 2). Apprendi had pleaded to shooting someone else and the evidence available pointed to the fact that the shooting had been racially motivated on the part of the criminal defendant and under New Jersey hates crime laws, he was handed an enhanced sentence that was well above the sentence that he could have received for similar crime.

The issue therefore in this case was whether the Due Process Clause as contained in the Fourth Amendment of the U.S Constitution that requires that a factual determination to increase a prison term by more that between ten to twenty years be determined by a jury after a proof of beyond reasonable doubt. This case was important to the criminal justice system is that it found it unconstitutional for a legislature to purport to remove from the jury the assessment of the facts which makes an increase in the range of penalties to which a criminal defendant is liable for.

It should therefore be clear that the facts have been established by a proof beyond reasonable doubt.The Supreme Court affirmed the rights of an accused to liberty and the following of the due process of law, which guarantees a public and speedy trial, carried out by an impartial jury as well as the application of the standard of proof of beyond reasonable doubt in criminal cases in order to limit error. However, in a dissenting opinion, the honorable judges found that the courts by deciding so had limited the power of the legislatures to define criminal offences and the punishment for them (Reuters, 56).

As a prosecutor, my role would be to ensure that criminal cases are proved beyond reasonable doubt, as it is the prosecution that subjects the defendant to the possibility of losing liberty on conviction, which would certainly stigmatize him in the society.Work CitedReuters, Thomson. Apprendi v. New Jersey 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct, 2348 U.S, West Law. 2014.