The first question for the Court is, in light of the Guidelines' development into the de facto range of punishment in all but a very small percentage of cases, whether the rule of Apprendi must apply to the Guidelines to comport with the constitutional protections of due process and jury trial. The second question for the Court is whether Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 118 S. Ct. 1219 (1998), was wrongly decided and must be overruled.

Whether the rule of Apprendi must apply to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to comport with the constitutional protections of due process and jury trial