In Southern Union Co. v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that any fact used to increase a maximum penalty must be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. That core principal, the court held, applies to criminal fines as well as jail sentences.
Until recently, it was assumed that the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, could seek fines above the Sherman Act’s $100 million maximum for companies merely by proving to a judge by a preponderance of evidence that a guilty defendant had wrongly gained, or caused others to lose, more than the statutory maximum. It is now clear that the government must present the issue to a jury and prove the amount of harm or wrongful profit beyond a reasonable about. The holding will make economic analysis of profit and loss data more important in calculating appropriate fines in criminal antitrust cases.