Hugo Roman Almendarez-Torres v. United States

Decided March 24, 1998. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 96-6839 · 523 U.S. 224 (1998) · Cited 12,622 times

Holding

Subsection (b)(2) is a penalty provision, which simply authorizes an enhanced sentence.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• McMillan v. Pennsylvania · 477 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Mullaney v. Wilbur · 421 U.S. 684 (1975)
• Patterson v. New York · 432 U.S. 197 (1977)
• Graham v. West Virginia · 224 U.S. 616 (1912)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Spencer v. Texas · 385 U.S. 554 (1967)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Specht v. Patterson · 386 U.S. 605 (1967)
• United States v. Locke · 471 U.S. 84 (1985)
• United States v. Monsanto · 491 U.S. 600 (1989)
• Old Chief v. United States · 519 U.S. 172 (1997)
• Oyler v. Boles · 368 U.S. 448 (1962)
• United States v. Jin Fuey Moy · 241 U.S. 394 (1916)
• Blockburger v. United States · 284 U.S. 299 (1931)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• Walton v. Arizona · 497 U.S. 639 (1990)
• Parke v. Raley · 506 U.S. 20 (1992)
• Spaziano v. Florida · 468 U.S. 447 (1984)
• United States v. Wells · 519 U.S. 482 (1997)
• Federal Housing Administration v. Darlington, Inc. · 358 U.S. 84 (1958)
• Hildwin v. Florida · 490 U.S. 638 (1989)
• Duncan v. Louisiana · 391 U.S. 145 (1968)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Morissette v. United States · 342 U.S. 246 (1952)
• United States v. Dixon · 509 U.S. 688 (1993)
• Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 504 U.S. 374 (1992)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Whalen v. United States · 445 U.S. 684 (1980)
• United States v. Watts · 519 U.S. 148 (1997)
• Staples v. United States · 511 U.S. 600 (1994)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Apprendi v. New Jersey · 530 U.S. 466 (2000)
• Jones v. United States · 526 U.S. 227 (1999)
• Erlinger v. United States · 602 U.S. 821 (2024)
• Shepard v. United States · 544 U.S. 13 (2005)
• Monge v. California · 524 U.S. 721 (1998)
• United States v. Haymond · 588 U.S. 634 (2019)
• United States v. Resendiz-Ponce · 549 U.S. 102 (2007)
• Ring v. Arizona · 536 U.S. 584 (2002)
• Mathis v. United States · 579 U.S. 500 (2016)
• Harris v. United States · 536 U.S. 545 (2002)
• Castillo v. United States · 530 U.S. 120 (2000)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder · 560 U.S. 563 (2010)
• Rita v. United States · 551 U.S. 338 (2007)
• Johnson v. United States · 576 U.S. 591 (2015)
• Descamps v. United States · 570 U.S. 254 (2013)
• Cunningham v. California · 549 U.S. 270 (2007)
• James v. United States · 550 U.S. 192 (2007)
• Gonzales v. Carhart · 550 U.S. 124 (2007)
• United States v. O’Brien · 560 U.S. 218 (2010)
• Lawson v. FMR LLC · 571 U.S. 429 (2014)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. · 556 U.S. 502 (2009)
• Richardson v. United States · 526 U.S. 813 (1999)
• Dretke v. Haley · 541 U.S. 386 (2004)
• Southern Union Co. v. United States · 567 U.S. 343 (2012)
• Dubin v. United States · 599 U.S. 110 (2023)
• Blakely v. Washington · 542 U.S. 296 (2004)
• Porter v. Nussle · 534 U.S. 516 (2002)
• Zadvydas v. Davis · 533 U.S. 678 (2001)
• Schriro v. Summerlin · 542 U.S. 348 (2004)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1998). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).