In another decision handed down today, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its recent — and highly controversial — decision that the Sixth Amendment requires that “any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” In practice, this limits the ability of judges to impose sentence enhancements after trial. This may seem like a “liberal” or “pro-criminal” outcome, but it is compelled by the text and original meaning of the Sixth Amendment. Thus it should be no surprise that today’s opinion was authored by Justice Scalia (and joined by Justice Thomas). The rest of the line-up is quite interesting. Justices Ginsburg, Souter and Stevens joined Scalia’s opinion while the Chief Justice and Justices O’Connor, Kennedy, and Breyer dissented. The opinions are available here.