Quarles v. United States
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 10, 2019 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- June 10, 2019
- Term
- October Term 2018
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Kavanaugh
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice KAVANAUGH delivered the opinion of the Court. Section 924(e) of Title 18, also known as the Armed Career Criminal Act, mandates a minimum 15-year prison sentence for a felon who unlawfully possesses a firearm and has three prior convictions for a "serious drug offense" or "violent felony." Section 924(e) defines "violent felony" to include "burglary." Under this Court's 1990 decision in Taylor v. United States , 495 U.S. 575, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607, the generic statutory term "burglary" means "unlawful or unprivileged entry into, or remaining in , a building or structure, with intent to commit a crime." Id ., at 599, 110 S.Ct. 2143 (emphasis added). The exceedingly narrow question in this case concerns remaining-in burglary. The question is whether remaining-in burglary (i) occurs only if a person has the intent to commit a crime at the exact moment when he or she first unlawfully remains in a building or structure, or (ii) more broadly, occurs when a person forms the intent to commit a crime at any time while unlawfully remaining in a building or structure. For purposes of § 924(e), we conclude that remaining-in burglary occurs when the defendant forms the intent to commit a crime at any time while unlawfully remaining in a building or structure. We affirm the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. I On August 24, 2013, police officers…
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