Apprendi Rule
In criminal law, the Apprendi rule imposes on evidentiary burden on what kinds of evidence may be used to increase the punishment for a crime beyond its statutory maximum. The rule comes from a 2000 United States Supreme Court case, Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). Under the Apprendi rule, any fact other than a prior conviction must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt if that fact is being used to increase the defendant's punishment beyond what would otherwise be the maximum.
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