United States v. Gino Rodriquez (553 U.S. 377)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 19, 2008 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 553 U.S. 377 · 128 S. Ct. 1783
- Decided
- May 19, 2008
- Term
- October Term 2007
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Alito
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the Court. Under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U. S. C. § 924(e)(2)(A)(ii), a state drug-trafficking conviction qualifies as “a serious drug offense” if “a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more is prescribed by law” for the “offense.” The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that “the maximum term of imprisonment . . . prescribed by law” must be determined without taking recidivist enhancements into account. 464 F. 3d 1072,1082 (2006). We reverse. I At issue in this case is respondent’s sentence on his 2004 conviction in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U. S. C. § 922(g)(1). Respondent had two prior state convictions in California for residential burglary and three state convictions in Washington for delivery of a controlled substance, in violation of Wash. Rev. Code §§69.50.401(a)(l)(ii)-(iv) (1994). Respondent’s three Washington drug convictions occurred on the same day but were based on deliveries that took place on three separate dates. Sentencing Order in No. CR-03-142RHW (ED Wash., Sept. 3, 2004), p. 5, App. 245, 250 (hereinafter Sentencing Order). At the time of respondent’s drug offenses, the Washington statute that respondent was convicted of violating stated that, upon conviction, a defendant…
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