Three-Time Loser Law Struck Down
Another federal judge has struck down New York’s persistent felony offender statute on Sixth Amendment grounds.
Two judges have held the state law improperly requires judges rather than juries to determine facts that lead to an enhanced sentence, the New York Law Journal reports. A third judge has upheld the statute.
In the most recent decision, U.S. District Judge John Koeltl of New York held that the law violated the right to a jury trial. He said the law unconstitutionally required judges to determine whether three-time felons deserve an extended sentence based on the nature and circumstances of their crimes.
Koelt said such findings should not be made in the absence of a jury finding or an admission by the defendant.
New York’s highest court has upheld the statute, most recently in 2005.
