Deondery Chambers v. United States (555 U.S. 122)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 13, 2009 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 555 U.S. 122 · 129 S. Ct. 687
- Decided
- January 13, 2009
- Term
- October Term 2008
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court. The question before us is whether a “failure to report” for penal confinement is a “ ‘violent felony’ ” within the terms of the Armed Career Criminal Act. 18 U. S. C. § 924(e). We hold that it is not. I The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) imposes a 15-year mandatory prison term on an individual convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm if that individual has “three previous convictions ... for a violent felony or a serious drug offense, or both, committed on occasions different from one another.” § 924(e)(1). ACCA defines a “violent felony” as a “crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” that also either “(i) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another; or “(ii) is burglary, arson, or extortion, involves the use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” § 924(e)(2)(B). Clause (ii), ACCA’s so-called residual clause, is at issue here. II The petitioner, Deondery Chambers, pleaded guilty to a charge of being a felon unlawfully in possession of a firearm. § 922(g). At sentencing the Government asked the District Court to apply ACCA’s 15-year mandatory prison term because, in its view, three of Chambers’ prior convictions qualified as an ACCA “serious drug…
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