Mathis v. United States (579 U.S. 500)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 23, 2016 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 579 U.S. 500 · 136 S. Ct. 2243
- Docket
- No. 15-6092
- Argued
- April 26, 2016
- Decided
- June 23, 2016
- Term
- October Term 2015
- Vote
- 5–3
- Majority author
- Justice Kagan
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Kennedy (wrote a concurrence), Justice Thomas (wrote a concurrence), Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kagan (wrote)
- Dissenting
- Justice Ginsburg, Justice Breyer (wrote), Justice Alito (wrote)
Oral argument transcript and advocates · Opinion on Justia
Opinion excerpt
Justice KAGAN delivered the opinion of the Court. The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA or Act), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), imposes a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence on certain federal defendants who have three prior convictions for a "violent felony," including "burglary, arson, or extortion." To determine whether a past conviction is for one of those offenses, courts compare the elements of the crime of conviction with the elements of the "generic" version of the listed offense-i.e., the offense as commonly understood. For more than 25 years, our decisions have held that the prior crime qualifies as an ACCA predicate if, but only if, its elements are the same as, or narrower than, those of the generic offense. The question in this case is whether ACCA makes an exception to that rule when a defendant is convicted under a statute that lists multiple, alternative means of satisfying one (or more) of its elements. We decline to find such an exception. I A ACCA prescribes a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence if a defendant is convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm following three prior convictions for a "violent felony." § 924(e)(1). (Absent that sentence enhancement, the felon-in-possession statute sets a 10-year maximum penalty. See § 924(a)(2).) ACCA defines the term "violent felony" to include any felony, whether state or federal, that "is burglary, arson, or…
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