Laverne Brown v. State of Florida

Summary

The court held that section 775.082(10), Florida Statutes (2015), violates the Sixth Amendment because it permits a judge, rather than a jury, to find dangerousness to the public and thereby increase the applicable sentencing maximum from a nonstate prison sanction. The court rejected the view that the statute merely mitigates an otherwise applicable five-year maximum, relying on the statute's plain language. It quashed the Fifth District's decision, while declining to address harmless error or the appropriate remedy because Brown had completed her sentence.