Harris v. United States

Harris v. United States, 536 U.S. 545 (2002), was a U.S. Supreme Court case in which it was ruled, by a 5-4 majority, that facts subjecting a defendant to a mandatory minimum sentence need not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury. Quoting Apprendi v. New Jersey , the court noted, "The Fifth and Sixth Amendments ensure that the defendant 'will never get more punishment than he bargained for when he did the crime,' but they do not promise that he will receive 'anything less' than that." Justice Stephen Breyer noted, in his concurrence, that under the plea bargaining system in which facts are typically stipulated in plea agreements, "application of Apprendi would take from the judge the power to make a factual determination, while giving that power not to juries, but to prosecutors."

The decision was overturned in 2013 by Alleyne v. United States .