The Supreme Court pared back the reach of a recidivist sentencing law, ruling that prior convictions for crimes of reckless violence aren't sufficient to trigger additional years of imprisonment for felons convicted of gun possession
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court pared back the reach of a recidivist sentencing law from the 1980s, ruling Thursday that prior convictions for crimes of reckless violence aren’t sufficient to trigger additional years of imprisonment for felons convicted of gun possession.
The Armed Career Criminal Act targets repeat offenders responsible for most violent crimes, Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the plurality, singling out those with a history of knowing the harm they were inflicting when committing crimes. Three such prior convictions expose felons to a mandatory minimum of 15 years for possessing a firearm, instead of a 10-year sentence.
But while reckless crimes, such as drunken driving, can cause great injury, they don’t reflect the propensity for violence that Congress sought to address in the recidivist law,. The case saw the court’s three liberals unite in the plurality while its six conservatives divided three separate ways. Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined the Kagan opinion, as did Justice Neil Gorsuch. Justice Clarence Thomas voted for the outcome but published a separate opinion. Justice Brett Kavanaugh dissented, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Amy Coney Barrett., Thursday’s decision boiled down to the meaning of a single word.
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