Scotuscast

On December 10, 2018, the Supreme Court decided the consolidated cases United States v. Stitt and United States v. Sims, both concerning the federal Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA).ACCA imposes a 15-year mandatory minimum prison sentence on any federal firearms offender who has three or more convictions for a “violent” felony or serious drug offense. “Burglary” qualifies as a violent felony under ACCA, but the statute applies a “generic” understanding of burglary that may be narrower than some state burglary offenses. A prior state conviction does not qualify as burglary under ACCA if the elements of the state statute are broader than those of generic burglary, namely: an unlawful or unprivileged entry into, or remaining in, a building or other structure, with intent to commit a crime.Here, both defendants persuaded federal courts of appeals--the Sixth Circuit for Stitt and the Eighth Circuit for Sims--that their sentences were improperly enhanced because predicate burgl