Following a 2004 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Washington case, the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the resentencing of hundreds of repeat offenders because judges in their cases considered their criminal records when they were originally sentenced.

The court voted unanimously to rule Ohio's sentencing law unconstitutional because it allowed judges to consider evidence -- such as a defendant's previous convictions -- when deciding their sentencing, thereby violating their right to a trial by jury.

Of the hundreds who will have to be resentenced following the ruling, most are repeat offenders and habitual drug offenders, the court said.

"Although new sentencing hearings will impose significant time and resource demands on the trial courts ... we must follow the dictates of the United States Supreme Court," Ohio Justice Judith Lanzinger wrote in the Ohio court ruling.

See Also:
Ohio Court Orders Resentencing of Hundreds

More Information:
Mandatory Drug Sentencing Laws

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