A Good Time With the Sixth Amendment: The Application of Apprendi to the Denial of Good Time Credit

Nicholas J. Xenakis, Stanford University

Abstract

This Article is about a unique aberration in post-Blakely sentencing jurisprudence. It explains why the Due Process the Sixth Amendment guarantees as articulated in Apprendi v. New Jersey apply to some factual determinations related to the denial of good time credit. At first glance, this is something that should not be. Denials of good time credit are typically evaluated under a ‘some evidence’ standard, and juries normally play no role in such denials since they usually take place post-conviction. Nonetheless, Apprendi does indeed apply to some factual determinations related to the pre-trial behavior of the defendant while incarcerated. In states that grant a presumptive right to good time credit, such denials raise the ‘maximum sentence’ as defined in Blakely v. Washington¬. Therefore pursuant to Apprendi, these increases mean that a jury must find the facts supporting those denials.

Currently, no state or federal court has held that Apprendi applies to the denial of good time credit and the courts that have ruled to the contrary have done so erroneously. Some have confused the mechanics of good time credit with a mandatory minimum, while others have only dealt with the issue pre-Blakely. No matter what the rationale, no court has directly ruled on whether Apprendi applies to the facts related to a defendant’s pre-trial behavior, nor has other scholarship explored the subject.

This Article also examines the potential difficulties that could arise from accepting the premise that Apprendi applies to the denial of good time credit. Such a conclusion could not only possibly conflict with a state’s sentencing jurisprudence but it could also face opposition from those who favor a broad reading of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Oregon v. Ice. As a case study to explore some of these issues, this Article concludes by laying out what such an application would mean for California’s sentencing scheme.